Misbruik van het erfrecht c. 1593 - 1597

Cornelis Galle I created this engraving, "Misbruik van het erfrecht," capturing a moral lesson. At its core, we see symbols of greed and deception: the wolf embodies avarice, while the figure with the deathly mask represents a corrupted will. Even Cupid is blindfolded, suggesting that love itself is perverted by greed. Consider the wolf—a symbol that winds back through centuries, from the mythic she-wolf of Rome to the monstrous figures of folklore. It embodies not just hunger, but a ravenous desire that consumes all. Here, it is a visceral representation of the insatiable appetite that corrupts inheritance. The blindfolded Cupid, a powerful motif. Typically, Cupid signifies love's irrationality, but in this context, the blindfold takes on a darker meaning—the deliberate blindness to justice and morality when driven by greed. These symbols, laden with cultural memory, engage us on a subconscious level. They evoke not just an understanding of the scene but a deep, emotional resonance. They remind us that the human drama of greed and deception is not confined to a single moment but echoes through time, constantly reappearing in new forms, each bearing the weight of its past incarnations.