Theasaurus Philopoliticus - Lunden - Daniel Meisner 1623-1631

Reproduction of copper engraving after model from Thesaurus philopoliticus (1623-1631). The picture shows the city of Lund, here called Lunden - and in the foreground can be seen a dispute between a merchant and a customer. In the language of thought that surrounds the image, the conflict becomes clear.

Translation:

A bad coin does two things.

Farewell then, creamer, henceforth you shall never see me leave this place: thus shameful avarice injures itself.

Take the daler there, you greedy belly, you will get little profit from it. You won't get one more witness from me. That coin shall damage you fourfold.

It is the language of thought in these pictures that is interesting. Partly because there seems to have been no direct connection between the foreground event/languages ​​of thought and the city in the background. There are various speculations about why they did that. But since the engravings themselves are copied from other known works by Braun and Hogenberg, one can imagine that it was a matter of making a folk print with moral stories. And that the stories may have come before choosing which images to imitate.

The languages ​​of thought are set in both Latin and German, in order to appeal and reach a wider audience with their message.

The picture is sold without a frame.