Mensheid wordt door de duivel geketend - Dirck Volckertsz. Coornhert

A sixteenth-century allegorical engraving by Dirck Volckertsz. Coornhert depicting the struggle between humanity and sin.

This print by Dirck Volckertsz. Coornhert, after a design by Maarten van Heemskerck, depicts a powerful allegorical scene. A muscular male figure, representing humanity, stands in a state of bondage. His wrists and ankles are bound by thick ropes held by a demonic creature perched upon a globe. The imagery draws upon moralising themes common in sixteenth-century Northern European art, where the struggle between virtue and vice was a frequent subject for printmakers.

Coornhert, a polymath who worked as an engraver, writer, and theologian, utilised the medium of etching and engraving to disseminate complex philosophical ideas. The composition focuses on the physical tension of the captive figure, whose upward gaze suggests a plea for liberation or a recognition of his spiritual state. The inclusion of the globe beneath the devil reinforces the universal nature of this moral conflict, suggesting that the entire world is subject to such temptations.

The Latin inscription at the base, 'Peccati servus idem et sathana est mancipium', translates to 'The slave of sin is also the property of Satan'. This text provides the interpretive key for the viewer, framing the visual narrative within a specific theological context. The line work is precise, characteristic of the period's technical approach to copperplate engraving, with cross-hatching used to define the musculature of the central figure and the texture of the demonic form. As a print, this work was intended for a learned audience capable of engaging with both the classical anatomical style and the underlying moral message. It remains a clear example of how print culture in the Netherlands functioned as a vehicle for intellectual and religious discourse during the Reformation era.