Man met twee geselroedes 1550 - 1625

This anonymous print presents a nude man brandishing two bundles of rods. These are not mere decorations; they are fasces, ancient symbols of Roman power and authority. Bound bundles of wooden rods, they signified the power to punish and enforce order, carried by lictors before magistrates. Consider how this motif surfaces again and again. Think of Jacques-Louis David’s "Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of His Sons", where the fasces underscore the severity and moral rectitude of Roman justice. The reappearance of such symbols points to a deep-seated human fascination with power, order, and the control exerted by the state. The rod, from a psychoanalytic view, represents not just authority but also suppressed desires and anxieties, a primal image resonating in our collective memory. The compelling force of this image lies in its stark portrayal of dominance. It taps into our subconscious understanding of social hierarchies and the emotional charge associated with symbols of authority. Thus, the fasces endures, an emblem continuously reshaped by history, echoing through art, politics, and the very fabric of our cultural consciousness.