A prophet points to a cross which is leaking water; representing faith, the 'fountain of life'. Etching by C. Murer after himself, c. 1600-1614.

This scene illustrates a speech in Murer's play on faith, hope and charity; the image specifically concerns faith. Below the main image of the prophet, a man puts his nose into the stream emanating from the fountain. Men in Roman and Arabic costume dig a hole on the right; they lower a bucket into it. Atop the leaking cross is a bird with a sprig, perhaps alluding to the harbinger of safety in the story of Noah

The composition is similar to that of a print by Jan Sadeler after Christoph Schwarz, in which Fracastoro occupies the position of the prophet in Murer's print: Wellcome Library catalogue no. 524739i

Zurich : Johann Rudolf Wolf, 1622.

1 print : etching.

Fons vitae. CM. This series was originally intended by Murer to serve as illustration to his play 'Edessa', but he died before completing it. The play concerned the politics surrounding the Arian controversy in the fourth century Christian church. In her book (cited below), T. Vignau-Wilberg demonstrates that Murer used the story of the persecutions in Edessa of non-Arians by Arians as a cipher for the persecution of Protestants by Catholics in his contemporary Europe. However, the play was never published and the etchings were published as emblems eight years after his death, with a different text written by Johann Heinrich Rordorf, sometimes at variance with the intention of the original

Thea Vignau-Wilberg, Christoph Murer und die "XL. Emblemata miscella nova", Bern : Benteli Verlag, 1982

Wellcome Collection 26677i