30A

Parable of the Vine (Taurus)

Artist: Adriaen Collaert (1555-1623)
Title: Parable of the Vine (Taurus)
Date: 1585
Medium: Engraving [TIB 70, Part 4, Supplement, p. 16]. After a design by Hans Bol (1534-1593). Published by a member of the Sadeler family, posssibly Aegidius the Elder (ca. 1555 – ca. 1609).
Photo Source: Rijksmuseum Website
Note: We follow the Rijksmuseum in interpreting the bull-in-the-sun depicted in this engraving as the sign of Taurus. Ramaix (2003, 16-18) claims, however, that this design stands for Aries, but provides no argument for her claim. Hautekeete (2015, 42) elaborates on Ramaix's claim by stating that Hans Bol, the inventor of this image, mistakenly drew here a bull for Aries instead of a ram (Collaert then engraved this mistake and Sadeler published it). But he provides no evidence for his claim either. The same can be said, mutatis mutandis, for the depiction of the ram-in-the-sun in another engraving of this series. We interpret it as the sign of Aries, while Ramaix and Hautekeete regard it as Taurus.
Item: 30A

Correspondences: Archive: 30A/30B; Archive: 30A/30B; Archive: 30A/30B; Galleries: 30A/30B