Avonturen op het land bij Porto Desire, 1615 1617 - 1646

This is a 1615 anonymous etching that depicts adventures in the land near Porto Desire. Note the prominence of the lion in the lower portion of the image, and the presence of ostriches, horses, and sheep in the upper portion. Lions, historically symbols of strength and courage, emerge here in a peculiar dance with human figures. Recall the ancient myth of Heracles, who confronted the Nemean lion as his first labour. Here, the dynamic shifts: the lion is hunted, revealing a shift in the symbolic relationship between man and nature. This reflects a psychological tension, illustrating the human desire to dominate. The cartographic imagery shows the land and its resources as there for the taking, and it is not a far cry from the images of lions being hunted to those of other animals and groups of people being hunted and captured. These are images of the cyclical nature of human history, echoing through time, in different costumes.