Hier beghit tsomer stuc vande passiole (Legenda aurea in Dutch) 1505

This woodcut appears within the pages of Pseudo Jacobus de Voragine's "Legenda Aurea in Dutch". The image is dominated by the ordeal of a saint being immersed in a cauldron. Note the king and his courtiers on the left, a composition that echoes scenes of judgment found across medieval art. This symbol of power confronts a scene of profound suffering. The cauldron, a motif of pagan rituals, here transforms into a symbol of Christian martyrdom. Consider how the imagery of water, often a symbol of purification and rebirth, is perverted here into an instrument of torture. It is reminiscent of the narratives of sacrifice found in ancient myths, echoing through centuries. Just as Laocoön's struggle with serpents embodied the agony of a city, so too does the saint's ordeal capture a moment of harrowing transition, resonating within our collective memory of suffering. The enduring nature of symbols reminds us that history is not linear but a series of echoes and reflections.