The Seed Received among the Thorns

This is one of a series of four prints portraying the biblical parable of the sower, made in Antwerp (in present-day Belgium) at the end of the 1500s. The parable compares types of soil to people in the world: one hardened; one fickle; one distracted by things of the world; and one with an open heart, ready to accept God. The third sower (here, portrayed as a pilgrim) distractedly throws seeds among thorns. He is surrounded by two female personifications—Cares of the World, and Avarice (extreme greed for money)—indicating the source of his distraction from religious piety. This print relates to a preparatory drawing in the museum’s collection (2012.4).