Tabula Cebetis

16th century

Not on view

The Table of Cebes, or The Journey of Human Life, is an allegory—popular in Europe from the fifteenth through the eighteenth century—that represents the dangers and temptations that beset man and threaten to divert him from an existence predicated upon piety and study, including the study of mathematics. It is often depicted in the form of three concentric walled enclosures, each accessible by a single gate and populated with a variety of figures engaged in the pursuit of knowledge and self-knowledge. Kandel’s print subverts the traditional values of the inward spatial progression, whereby each move closer to the center symbolizes a greater degree of moral purity. Here, even the innermost sanctum is not immune to worldly desires—a Reformation-era commentary on the hypocrisy of institutions claiming to uphold standards of human behavior.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Catalogue Raisonné

Title: Tabula Cebetis
Artist: David Kandel (German, ca. 1520–ca. 1596)
Date: 16th century
Medium: Woodcut; second state of two
Dimensions: Block: 12 13/16 × 16 1/8 in. (32.5 × 41 cm)
Sheet: 13 9/16 × 16 5/16 in. (34.5 × 41.5 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1944
Object Number: 44.1.22
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By David Kandel

In the same medium

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The Garden of False Learning from The Table of Cebes, David Kandel German, Wool and silk on canvas (cross stitch, 48-56 per sq. in., 9 per sq. cm; tent stitch, 156-190 per sq. in., 30-36 per sq. cm.), French — The Garden of False Learning from The Table of Cebes
David Kandel
1550–80

The Wayfarer Crowned by Happiness from The Table of Cebes, David Kandel German, Wool and silk on canvas (cross-stitch, 48-56 per sq. in., 9 per sq. cm.; tent stitch, 156-190 per sq. in., 30-36 per sq. cm.), French — The Wayfarer Crowned by Happiness from The Table of Cebes
David Kandel
1550–80

Embroidery Pattern with Seven Six-pointed Stars and Four Corner Pieces, Albrecht Dürer German, Woodcut — Embroidery Pattern with Seven Six-pointed Stars and Four Corner Pieces
Albrecht Dürer
Leonardo da Vinci
before 1521

Junkernboden, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner German, Color woodcut, working proofs recto and verso; recto: black ink with traces of yellow and green ink and wax crayon; verso: black, pink, dark red, and two shades of green ink — Junkernboden
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
1919

Astronomicum Caesareum, Michael Ostendorfer German, Hand-colored woodcuts — Astronomicum Caesareum
Multiple artists/makers
May 1540

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