Artwork
Frustra pater nauem dabit
Frustra pater nauem dabit is an ink print by the Renaissance artist Hieronymus Wierix. It dates from 1586 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Hieronymus Wierix, a Flemish engraver active in the late sixteenth century, produced the small print *Frustra pater nauem dabit* in 1586. Executed as an engraving, the work measures only a few centimeters across and presents a single, tightly composed scene that reflects the artist’s skill in line work and his engagement with contemporary religious motifs.
Subject & Meaning
The image depicts a bearded figure in a robe, holding a boat aloft as if it were a child’s toy. Above the scene, a Latin inscription reads “In vain the father will give the ship,” a proverb suggesting the futility of offering protection against overwhelming forces. The calm demeanor of the figure, set against a storm‑tossed sea, underscores a moral warning about human limits.
Technique & Style
Wierix employs fine, cross‑hatching lines to render the turbulent water and the texture of the robe, achieving a dense tonal range within the limited space of the engraving. The figure’s exaggerated strength and the dramatic chiaroscuro are characteristic of the Northern Renaissance’s interest in combining precise detail with allegorical content.
History & Provenance
Created during a period of intense confessional conflict in the Southern Netherlands, the print was likely circulated among Protestant and Catholic audiences as a visual commentary on the era’s political anxieties. The work remained in private collections before entering museum holdings in the twentieth century, where it is now catalogued as part of the Wierix family’s oeuvre.
Context
Wierix’s career was marked by collaborations with his brothers and by producing reproductive prints after masters such as Albrecht Dürer. *Frustra pater nauem dabit* fits within his broader output of small, didactic engravings that disseminated Netherlandish artistic and theological ideas across Europe.
Artist & collection
Artist
Hieronymus Wierix (1553–1619) was a Flemish engraver, draughtsman and publisher. He is known for his reproductive engravings after the work of well-known local and foreign artists including Albrecht Dürer. Together with…
Henoch and His Family at a Meal
Joseph Interprets the Dreams in Prison
Epileptics Walking to the Left
Paradise
The Assumption of the Virgin
The Nativity
Dum pierulo fugendum ...
The Garden of Love (Large Plate)
The Perniciousness of Men
Christ Blesses the Children
The Agony in the Garden
Return from the Flight into Egypt