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Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0 · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileThe central oval depicts the scholar in a ruff and patterned doublet, surrounded by an elaborate architectural border. To the left, a female figure representing Astronomy holds an armillary sphere and compasses, while to the right, Mercury stands with his winged helmet and caduceus. The composition is adorned with putti handling books and globes, topped by the Scaliger family coat of arms featuring a ladder.
Joseph Scaliger was a foundational figure in modern chronology and philology; his efforts to synchronize the timelines of ancient civilizations provided the historical framework for Renaissance humanism and the study of ancient wisdom traditions. This print by Goltzius celebrates Scaliger's intellectual authority, linking his scholarship to the divine communication of Mercury and the celestial order of Astronomy.
JOSEPHVS SCALIGER IVL. CÆSARIS F. ÆT. XXXV. A. CIƆ . IƆ . LXXV. Josephi visi sibi tantum in imagine picta Hanc tibi dat vivam Goltzius effigiem.
Translation
Joseph Scaliger, son of Julius Caesar, aged 35, in the year 1575. Of Joseph, whom you see only in a painted image, Goltzius gives you here this living likeness.
Josephus Justus Scaliger
The subject of the portrait was a primary architect of historical chronology, essential for dating ancient esoteric and hermetic texts.
De emendatione temporum
Scaliger's most famous work, which applied astronomical calculations to correct the historical record of the ancient world.
Object
Engraving
portrait
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
http://hdl.handle.net/1887.1/item:1621950
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
2440 × 3321 px
6e14541970cee2baf689698b80f8689c0657bc1c
January 13, 2021
March 23, 2026
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 1, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.