Solar allegory

MARTIN DE VOS (1532-1603)

Antwerp, second half of the XVI century.

Burin on glued laid paper.

Text: Mortua cuncta iacent fi non ferventur ab igne Omnia vivificat namqz calore fuo.

Cut close to the footprint. Slight wrinkles. Acceptable state of conservation.

Among the great symbolic archetypes, the Sun appears as the complementary figure as well as the opposite of the Moon. The Greek pantheon, like so many other cultures, translated this unique bond with fraternal ties, Helios was the brother of Selene as Apollo was of Aphrodite.

The importance of the solar God in the principles that govern life is equal to that of the Moon but its element differs. If Selene expresses her dominion and influence over the waters, Helios does so with fire understood as a life-giving energy.