Strijd tussen de geest en het lichaam 1560 - 1600

This engraving, made by Johann Sadeler I, presents a dramatic allegorical battle between spirit and flesh. We see a struggle embodied through symbolic figures: On one side, spiritual virtues like "Charitas" and "Fides"; on the other, the corporeal temptations of "Mors" and "Mundum." Observe how the skeletal figure of Death, holding the tablets of law, recalls the memento mori tradition found in Roman art, reminding us of mortality's omnipresence. The scales, prominently displayed, evoke ancient concepts of justice and divine judgment, reappearing in Egyptian weighing-of-the-heart ceremonies and Renaissance depictions of the Last Judgment. It is as if the image is not merely seen, but felt in the viscera, engaging our deepest fears and hopes. Such visual motifs act as a form of cultural DNA, passed down and reshaped across epochs. They tap into a collective memory, stirring subconscious emotions linked to morality and mortality, evolving through diverse cultural expressions, yet always returning to the fundamental questions of human existence.