Moral Emblems: The Globe

Engraving, part of a set of 20 moral emblems, each designated by a letter of the alphabet. The set was designed by Jean Delaune and engraved by his father, Étienne Delaune, in 1580. It explores the theme of vanity in mundane things, denouncing the artifices of the world (beauty, pleasure, luxury...), and praising virtue. This print represents a half-naked man sitting on a globe that floats in the water, a village on the background, and a forest with trees in the first plane, on the left, where a male philosopher in classical clothing comments the scene. The allegorical sense of the picture might be that men who let themselves be driven by the artifices of the world end up committing follies, just like the man who is floating on the water in the illustration. To serve his purpose, the artist uses the symbolism of Fortune, which is often represented balancing on a globe floating on the water.