Newe Künstliche Wohlgerissene unnd in Holtz geschnittene Figuren, dergleichen niemahlen gesehen worden. Von den fürtrefflichsten künstlichsten unnd Berühmbtesten Mahlern, Reissern unnd Formschneidern. Als nemblich Albrecht Dürer, Hanß Holbeyn, .... 1620

Curator: What strikes me first about this woodcut is its density—like a thicket of tangled symbols and figures. Editor: That's a good way to put it. We're looking at an artwork made around 1620. It's part of a book called, "Newe Künstliche Wohlgerissene unnd in Holtz geschnittene Figuren, dergleichen niemahlen gesehen worden" (deep breath!), roughly translating to "New Artful, Well-Drawn and Cut in Wood Figures, such as have never been seen before." The prints inside are after designs by masters like Dürer and Holbein, but here we have the younger Hans Weiditz. The work is held at The Met. Curator: It has the weight of something much older, though—the visual language seems to tap into archetypes we recognize even today. Editor: Absolutely. Look at the central figure. He seems weighed down, almost drowning in the foliage and dense linework. He’s using the walking stick to walk through it but there seems to be someone hanging to him, to make him stuck. Curator: He's struggling to go through, carrying a huge weight. This burden is not his alone though. The astrological signs above imply fate, larger cosmic forces shaping his predicament. I get a strong sense of inescapable destiny. Is it fair? Or an excuse for the heavy-laden, caught up in this jungle-gym of troubles. Editor: And the German text beneath… could you give us an idea? Curator: Something like, "Weighed down by the burden of vice…Virtue dwells in secret,". I find the contrast between that striving and a resignation almost unsettling. A potent image that leaves a deep and resonating trace, all from the hand of Weiditz, centuries ago. Editor: Exactly, the dialogue between suffering and striving feels profoundly modern. And those astrological symbols, they still tug at us. Perhaps, we're all still trying to find our way out of the woods.