pleasure and pain

"pleasure is here represented with a reed in his right hand which is useless and without strength, and the wounds it inflicts are poisoned. in tuscany, they are used to support beds, to signify that it is here that vain dreams come."

— leonardo da vinci

i couldn’t stop staring at leonardo’s allegorical drawing of pleasure and pain. pleasure is depicted with a beautiful, youthful face, while pain wears a sad, aged expression. they are intertwined, yet back-to-back, reminding me of the yin-yang symbol in ancient chinese philosophy. it’s fascinating how these ancient thinkers understood, and see the complexities of life so deeply.

what captivates me most is the reed in pleasure’s hand. leonardo described it as symbolizing strengthless, evil pleasure — the kind that leads to pain. the reed, which supports beds and grows “vain dreams,” is fruitless. ironically, pleasure holds coins in front of pain, flaunting wealth and satisfaction, while in reality, he only has an empty, weak reed.

another interesting contrast is how pleasure stands on gold and pain on mud, but both share the same foundation, that's how pain and pleasure feed off each other, never existing alone.

pain always feel solid and firm, while pleasure can easily trap us in the mud, and infinite desires lead to pain.

we chase fleeting pleasures, those hollow moments that bring us “coins” to show off, but deep down, we know we’re holding nothing more than a fragile reed.

“pleasure and pain are represented as twins, because there never is one without the other.”

— leonardo da vinci

allegorical drawing of pleasure and pain

reference

isaacson, w. (2017). leonardo da vinci. simon & schuster.