Moral Emblems: The Goldsmith's Workshop

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 the interior of a goldsmith's workshop with an idealized representation with three characters dressed in antique costumes: a young man, on the left, forging a piece on an anvil, while his older companion, sitting on a workshop table, makes a globe, looking at a philosopher that stands on the right, extending a paper scroll with his right hand towards the sitting goldsmith. It is possible that this scene represents some sort of testament of Etienne Delaune, working with his son, who might be using the print to denounce the false pretenses of art, particularly metalworks, and denouning the vanity associated with them.