Theoxena og hendes familie dør til havs 1574

Tobias Stimmer created this woodcut print, depicting "Theoxena and her family dying at sea," using stark black lines on a white background. The scene is a maelstrom of figures and ships tossed by violent waves, evoking chaos and despair. The composition is structured by diagonal lines formed by the masts and the bodies of the figures, creating a sense of instability. Stimmer employs dense hatching to render the churning sea and the crowded decks, contrasting with the smoother surfaces of the sails and shields. The figures are rendered with a strong emphasis on outline, which gives them a dramatic, graphic quality. The print functions as a semiotic system where each element—the ship, the waves, the weaponry—contributes to a narrative of destruction and moral crisis. The black and white medium strips the scene down to its structural essence, challenging viewers to confront the raw visual forms of human tragedy. It invites ongoing interpretation and contemplation about the nature of human suffering.