The Instrument Maker
Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712
Image Title: The Instrument Maker
Scripture Reference:
- Genesis 4 (further images / scripture text)
Description: The instrument maker sits in his workshop. He is in the process of building a lute and talks to a man standing next to him; a number of musical instruments stand or hang around him. A city canal with a small boat is visible through the open window. The Dutch artist and poet Jan Luiken (1649-1712) was responsible for drawing this emblem and for creating the motto and poem that follow. Jan Luiken and/or his son Casper Luiken (1672-1708) were responsible for its etching. The attendant scripture text is Genesis 4:21.
Motto:
It’s good or bad,
Depending on the aim.
Poem:
The string music, a food for the ears,
How enjoyable and special is
What the art of playing generates;
If it does not serve to kick your heart,
So as to step up to the source,
Then it is, like everything, vanity.
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
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