Saturn

A muscular, bearded Saturn stands in a central oval, biting into the side of a small infant he holds aloft. He rests one hand on a long staff while his signature scythe lies on the ground at his feet. The outer corners of the print feature the zodiac signs of Capricorn and Aquarius, alongside a beehive and a winnowing sieve.

As the planetary ruler of the 'nigredo' or blackening phase in alchemy, Saturn represents the initial dissolution of matter and the metal lead. In Neoplatonic thought, particularly that of Marsilio Ficino, Saturn was the patron of the melancholic temperament and the deep, contemplative intellect required for esoteric study.