Petrus wordt door de engel uit de gevangenis bevrijd before 1646

This woodcut, made by Christoffel van Sichem II, depicts Saint Peter’s miraculous escape from prison. Note how the angel appears, bathed in divine light, in stark contrast to the sleeping guards. The bars of the prison, designed to hold and constrain, are here rendered powerless, a motif that resonates across cultures. Consider the Laocoön, wrestling with serpents, a symbol of human struggle against overwhelming forces. In both, we see the human form—or its barriers—overcome by a higher power. The angel's intervention speaks to the deeply embedded human desire for liberation and salvation, a narrative that transcends religious contexts. The image taps into our collective memory, echoing tales of rescue and freedom. The sleeping guards create an emotional dissonance, the contrast between vulnerability and divine intervention underscoring the psychoanalytic theme that transformation can occur even when we are most unaware. Thus, the cyclical journey of the symbol continues, morphing through time but always retaining its core message of hope and the possibility of transcendence.