The Ox Molar
Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712
Image Title: The Ox Molar
Scripture Reference:
- Leviticus 11 (further images / scripture text)
Description: On a city square and under the watchful eyes of two boys, a youth throws a brick on the jawbone of a cow in order to loosen the molars and make them fall out. In the background a couple watches this scene. A crack in the copper plates runs from the tree on the left background to outside the left margin line. The Dutch artist and poet Jan Luiken (1649-1712) was responsible for drawing this emblem (etched by Pieter Sluiter [1675-1713]) and composing a poem for it (below). The attendant Scripture texts are Lev 11:3-7; Matt 12:35-36; and Col 3:1-2.
Motto:
Have consideration in your heart,
So that the coarse becomes finer.
Poem:
The Molar, which was in the Jaw,
Chewed the cud of the little Cow;
That is a Game for higher minds:
How useful and good was rumination,
Of all that man does here,
To gain the true food.
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
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