Artemis of Ephesus

This engraving depicts the cult statue of Artemis of Ephesus in a stiff, columnar form. She wears a tiered, fortress-like mural crown on her head and a veil. Her torso is covered in multiple rows of spherical objects often interpreted as breasts or eggs, while the lower cylindrical section of her garment is decorated with horizontal registers featuring relief heads of bulls and deer. She has a stern, forward-facing expression, and her arms are extended to the sides with palms turned slightly upward. At her feet, a monographic mark (M) is visible on the base.

This image is a prominent feature in Athanasius Kircher's 'Oedipus Aegyptiacus', a work attempting to synthesize Hermetic, Egyptian, and syncretic religious traditions. It represents the early modern European fascination with the 'prisca theologia' and the attempt to reconcile classical pagan imagery with universalist theological systems.