Ornamental Tailpiece from Oedipus Aegyptiacus

A woodcut or relief-printed tailpiece featuring a stylized, symmetrical arrangement of C-scrolls and acanthus-like leaves. The design is roughly heart-shaped, tapering to a point at the bottom, with intricate, shaded flourishes curling inward and outward. It is printed in black ink on aged, off-white laid paper, with faint, illegible text visible beneath the ornament.

This ornamental device appears in the massive polymathic work 'Oedipus Aegyptiacus' by the Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher. Such ornaments were standard in 17th-century typography to close chapters or sections, reflecting the high production standards of Jesuit intellectual publishing.