Harpocrates as Horvs Mvndvs

Within a circular frame, a nude, childlike figure stands centrally on a rectangular plinth. The figure has short, tousled hair, a prominent belly, and a rounded face. In the right hand, they hold an upright cornucopia filled with vegetation; the left index finger is pressed against the mouth. The pedestal is etched with a papyrus-like stalk and a symbol containing a triangle and a circle with a central point. The background is plain.

This image is a plate from Athanasius Kircher’s 'Oedipus Aegyptiacus', a seminal 17th-century work attempting to decode Egyptian hieroglyphics through the lens of Hermetic and Neoplatonic philosophy. It reflects the Early Modern fascination with the 'prisca theologia' and the syncretic identification of the Egyptian Harpocrates with the World Soul (Horus Mundus).