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 II, Emblem i

Description: The pictura of this emblem by the Jesuit priest Herman Hugo (1588 – 1629 CE) allegorically figures thematic elements and metaphors of the pictura’s ensuing scripture citation and poem. A woman reaches out toward an angel holding the tablets of the Decalogue while brushing aside the angel standing behind her. These figures represent the free choice the supplicant must make between love of heaven and love of the world. In the background, an ox rests in pasture and a horse breaks himself free of the reins his master would place on him. These figures represent the natural appetite of the will, which, though free, tends to follow its baser desires, similar to how the ox returns to its pasture and the horse refuses constraints.

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