To the Desire of the Eternal Habitations, Jesus Christ, into Whom the Angels Desire to Pry
Author: Hugo, Herman, 1588-1629
Image Title: To the Desire of the Eternal Habitations, Jesus Christ, into Whom the Angels Desire to Pry
Description: The pictura of this emblem by the Jesuit priest Herman Hugo (1588 – 1629 CE) allegorically figures thematic elements of its ensuing scripture citation and poem. The speaker sits underneath the nimbused eye and ears of God and exposes his chest to the heavens, these celestial apparitions representing the gaze of God penetrating the depths of the human heart. From the speaker’s chest protrudes an arrow as three more arrows fly upward to the divine image. Each of the loosed arrows bears a banner inscribed with a cathartic exclamation. The arrows represent the mystical language in which the individual soul communicates through sighs with God alone. The discarded mask to the speaker’s right represents artifice and dissimulation, so common in human expression but altogether futile before God .
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