Portret van Hieronymus Wolf c. 1597 - 1599

Theodor de Bry’s engraving portrays Hieronymus Wolf, a 16th-century humanist scholar, holding a book. The book symbolizes knowledge, wisdom, and the humanist devotion to classical texts that defined Wolf’s life and era. Notice how the portrait is framed by an oval border teeming with symbolic details. At the top, we see lion heads, symbols of strength and courage, while below, are rats. These rodents were often linked to the concept of mortality in art, a visual memento mori. The act of holding a book is not new. We may recall similar poses from ancient Egyptian scribes. The gesture transcends mere representation, speaking to the enduring human quest for knowledge. It echoes through time, appearing in various guises, each iteration colored by its historical context. Think of the countless depictions of saints holding sacred texts, or enlightenment philosophers with their weighty tomes, all sharing a common thread: the reverence for the written word as a source of power and understanding. Such repetition reveals the cyclical nature of symbols, continually resurfacing in our collective consciousness.