This remarkable woodcut appears in Epictetus’ Enchiridion (1563), and is one in a long history of images portraying the moral life of humanity.  The longitudinal study of birth, corruption, vice, penance, achievement, want, lewdness, cowardice, sloth, and a penetrating multiple visits of the seven deadlies was intended to show the rough rode that lay ahead of us all on the way to the crowning glory.

This remarkable woodcut appears in Epictetus’ Enchiridion (1563), and is one in a long history of images portraying the moral life of humanity.  The longitudinal study of birth, corruption, vice, penance, achievement, want, lewdness, cowardice, sloth, and a penetrating multiple visits of the seven deadlies was intended to show the rough rode that lay ahead of us all on the way to the crowning glory.

Tags: Allegory Manierism enchiridion epictetus fortuna fortune life mannerism moral morality renaissance renaissance world view symbol Labyrinth maze