[The Power of Venus]

The goddess Venus standing on a sphere crowns the head of those fallen at her feet once they had been hit by Cupid's arrows; following the path to Vanity (Cursus Vanitatis),  Blindness (Caecitas) is driving a cart of fools, pulled by Folly (Stultitia) & Lust (Voluptas), and pursued by Derision (Derisio).

1587

To this grave doctor millions do resort

Satirical broadside on folly that is to be found in all ranks of society: the interior of an apothecary's shop, with the doctor purging with a dose of wisdom a countryman seated on a close-stool who defecates foolish notions represented by asses and geese; a wealthy city merchant waits to be given a dose of plain-dealing; a young courtier's head is inserted into a furnace so that his idle pastimes go up in a cloud of smoke carrying playing-cards, a backgammon board, tennis rackets, musical instruments, extravagant clothes, etc.; a fashionably dressed woman holding a squirrel on a lead is about to follow in the place of the courtier. In a panel below are two clergymen, one complaining of the strain of running more than one parish, the other, who has received the doctor's purge, finding that the work of one parish is quite enough. (The British Museum Curator's Comments)