A blacksmith's forge, in which Divine Love prepares to hammer two hearts into one, with the aid of the Soul, who operates the bellows. Coloured etching, 16--.

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32283i
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view A blacksmith's forge, in which Divine Love prepares to hammer two hearts into one, with the aid of the Soul, who operates the bellows. Coloured etching, 16--.

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A blacksmith's forge, in which Divine Love prepares to hammer two hearts into one, with the aid of the Soul, who operates the bellows. Coloured etching, 16--. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.

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Description

Divine Love extends his blacksmith's tongs into the furnace in order to retrieve a heart; he already has one on his anvil. A similar scene with the same lettering is found in the emblem books attributed to Jacob van Zevecote, Amoris divini et humani antipathia, Antwerp 1626, Benedikt Haeften, Schola cordis, Antwerp 1629, and Ludovicus van Leuven, Amoris divini et humani antipathia, Antwerp 1629, no. 37, pl. 79, entitled Unio Amoris: the present engraving is likely to be based on an engraving in one of those works. The text describes the uniting of the two hearts by Divine Love as the union of the human heart with God. The verses are not expressed in very clear French: the words ought to mean"These hearts will identify themselves, because Love is the blacksmith", but as that does not seem to make sense, they may have been intended to mean "These hearts will identify with each other because" etc. Above the image is a quotation of God's statement in Ezekiel XI.19, "And I will give them one heart", meaning that he will give a common heart to the Jews on their reunion in Israel after their dispersal

Publication/Creation

[Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified]

Physical description

1 print : etching, with gouache, on vellum ; image 4.5 x 5.9 cm

Lettering

Dabo eis cor unum. Ezech 11. Ces coeurs s'identifieron. Puis q'amour est le forgeron.

References note

Adolf Spamer, Das kleine Andachtsbild, vom XIV. bis zum XX. Jahrhundert, München: F. Bruckmann, 1930, pp. 147 and 150

Reference

Wellcome Collection 32283i

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