Book Title: Pia desideria : emblematis elegiis & affectibus SS. Patrum illustrata / authore Hermanno Hugone Societatis Iesu ; ad Vrbanum VIII, Pont. Max.

Author: Hugo, Herman, 1588-1629

Image Title: Book I, Emblem xv

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. A woman sleeps with her head resting on a sheaf of grain. At her side lies a broken hourglass with wings. Two figures run in the background, one away from the sun, the other away from the moon. Between them flies Father Time holding a sickle in his right hand as he balances an hourglass on his head. This scene represents the futility of one’s subjection to the vagaries of desire, which presume an object, but one that proves always to outpace one’s striving after it .

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