People in barrels

[Linda]

One more man in a barrell.
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Divina Commedia, Inferno: Scene, Descent to Cocytus -- Nimrod, wearing horn around his neck, stands in pit of lowest circle of Hell. At lower right, Antaeus bends forward and lowers to the ground Dante, wearing hat, and Virgil, both held in his arms. (Desscription of the Morgan Library & Museum)

Good one! 

Whenever someone finds a good parallel in a manuscript known to have been copied many times, i take it as though all copies are possibly referenced, or at least those they could have seen. Those that came after may also show information, since are also copies, and may have lost versions as their exemplars, ie a way to see something that may have been lost, or another way to think about it.

Here we see some other versions of similar scenes, each with their own takes on it. The barrel becomes earth, water,  a pit, a well, a stronghold, a burial, as the case may be.