The Vat of Disgrace
Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712
Image Title: The Vat of Disgrace
Scripture Reference:
- 2 Timothy 2 (further images / scripture text)
Description: A woman comes out of her house with a full garbage can in the form of the World, waiting for the approaching garbage cart. The Dutch artist and poet Jan Luiken (1649-1712), whose initials are at the lower right, was responsible for drawing and etching this emblem and for the poem that accompanies it (below). The attendant scripture text is 2 Timothy 2:20-21.
Poem:
The Heart passing through the world,
With desire for Worldly pleasures,
And so is open to Evil,
Is like a garbage-cart;
That base despised Container
Because he, through forgetting God,
Receives garbage, like a Treasure,
Flung to him by everyone.
He is accustomed, all he hears,
(As dung, from everyone’s dirty cans,)
Easily, through an open doorway,
To accept freely into his soil.
He is accustomed, all he sees,
Of vanity and sinful things,
Occurring to the right, and left of him,
To receive as his favorites,
He is accustomed, content and well
To nourish all sinful thoughts,
Like garbage from Hell,
Brought to him by Satan’s messengers.
For Shame!! Garbage-cart, human heart,
Art thou then without shame and honor,
That thou didst not blush blood-red,
Before the eyes of thine God and Lord!
He did not create thee into such a state,
To carry around Ashes and Mud,
As thou dost go through the world,
Like a despised Garbage cart.
He created thee in his Holy image,
And as a Vessel for all Virtues,
So that thou wouldst be endowed by Him
With the reward of eternal joy.
May then shame seize thee,
To shun Eternal disgrace,
And no longer follow that wicked path,
But break the disgraceful ties,
For which wisdom despises thee,
As one of the odious objects,
For which Satan dost ridicule thee,
Like a King who went begging.
Does someone else have neither shame, nor honor
Be thou no longer the Garbage-Container.
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
.
Click here for additional images available from this book.
Request a high-resolution file (fees apply)
Rights Statement: The online edition of this work in the public domain, i.e., not protected by copyright, has been produced by Pitts Theology Library, Emory University.
Rights Status: No Copyright - United States
Pitts Theology Library provides copyright information as a courtesy and makes no representation about copyright or other legal status of materials in the Digital Image Archive.