Meaning: Pleas of Mary prior to her death to be taken with Christ
Explanation: Although the Consideratio that this emblem illustrates is “about the death, funerals and burial of the Virgin of Sorrows and Mother of God Mary”, the depicted motif (a bird beside an open cage, but still tied to the trunk of a tree by a thread) and the chosen biblical quotation (Having the desire to depart and be with Christ) —origin of the motto: Cupio dissolvi— make reference to the pleas that, before dying, Mary would have addressed to Christ to be taken with him.
According to Ginther: “When this Holy Mother of God was seventy two years old, the time for her to be taken from this world to her beloved Son was approaching. Oh! How many times did she offer with pleas and tears her burning heart in sacrifice to her Divine Son? How many times did she repeat towards heavens the words of David Quemadmodum desiderat cervus ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te Deus […] If the beloved disciple of Christ, saint John, now an elderly man, once the Apocalypse was finished had in his promises, mouth and heart nothing but: Veni Domine Iesu, how much more fervently and avidly would have the beautiful Virgin and Mother of Sorrows begged her beloved Son: Cupio dissolvi & esse cum Christo?”For a detailed explanation, click HERE (in Spanish)
Explanation: Although the Consideratio that this emblem illustrates is “about the death, funerals and burial of the Virgin of Sorrows and Mother of God Mary”, the depicted motif (a bird beside an open cage, but still tied to the trunk of a tree by a thread) and the chosen biblical quotation (Having the desire to depart and be with Christ) —origin of the motto: Cupio dissolvi— make reference to the pleas that, before dying, Mary would have addressed to Christ to be taken with him.
According to Ginther: “When this Holy Mother of God was seventy two years old, the time for her to be taken from this world to her beloved Son was approaching. Oh! How many times did she offer with pleas and tears her burning heart in sacrifice to her Divine Son? How many times did she repeat towards heavens the words of David Quemadmodum desiderat cervus ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te Deus […] If the beloved disciple of Christ, saint John, now an elderly man, once the Apocalypse was finished had in his promises, mouth and heart nothing but: Veni Domine Iesu, how much more fervently and avidly would have the beautiful Virgin and Mother of Sorrows begged her beloved Son: Cupio dissolvi & esse cum Christo?”For a detailed explanation, click HERE (in Spanish)
This very same emblem can be found in:
• Picinelli, 1653: 88-89 (Ucello, lib. 4, cap. 1, n. 18. Meaning: the contemplative soul); • Picinelli, 1670: 108 (Ucello, lib. 4, cap. 1, n. 18. Meaning: idem); • Picinelli & Erath, 1687: 252-253 (Avis in genere, lib. 4, cap. 1, n. 20. Meaning: idem); • Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Sonderheim (Höchstädt an der Donau, Schwabia)