Vader en zoon met de ezel op hun rug 1570 - 1612

Karel van Mallery’s engraving depicts a father and son struggling to carry a donkey, inviting us to consider the absurd. The father-son duo weighed down by the donkey becomes a potent symbol of foolishness. This motif of the world turned upside down echoes through time. We see its reflections in ancient fables, where animals speak and humans act foolishly. Consider the comedies of the Roman playwright Plautus, where mistaken identities and absurd situations reveal the folly of human behavior. The image taps into a collective memory of tales where the natural order is subverted, inviting a reflection on human pride and the consequences of defying common sense. The burden they carry transcends the physical; it is a psychological weight, representing the strain of familial expectations and the absurdity of life's demands. It’s a non-linear, cyclical progression of symbols, resurfacing, evolving, and taking on new meanings in different historical contexts.