A deeper meaning

The Callot print and the map of the Mediterranean are there for a reason – they have a deeper meaning. There’s often a hidden message buried within the trompe l’oeil, and it’s up to the viewer to find it, based on the texts and images pictured. With this scene, Bilderdijk wants to touch upon themes of transience and death.

The most important clue for this is the calligraphed text: ‘sic transit gloria mundi’, which translates to ‘thus passeth the glory of the world’.