A seated woman with a scroll and two books, holding a caduce

The Muse Polyhymnia is shown draped in classical robes, seated amidst stone outcroppings with two large books resting at her feet. In her right hand she holds the winged caduceus of Mercury, and in her left, she unrolls a parchment scroll. This engraving is part of a series on the nine Muses, characterized by the swelling lines and complex hatching of the Haarlem Mannerist style.

Polyhymnia is identified here as the Muse of Rhetoric and sacred hymns. By equipping her with the caduceus—the primary attribute of Hermes/Mercury—Goltzius links the human art of eloquent speech to the divine communication and 'Hermetic' wisdom found in the Western esoteric tradition.