The Second Day (Dies II), from the series The Creation of the World

A circular engraving showing three monumental figures: a winged celestial being in the sky, a reclining bearded man pouring water from an urn at the bottom, and a female figure seated on clouds with a rainbow. The celestial figure uses a staff to divide the elements, personifying the biblical creation of the firmament. The scene is rendered in a highly stylized Mannerist fashion with dramatic anatomy and swirling clouds.

This work interprets the biblical Genesis through the visual language of late Renaissance natural philosophy, personifying the 'waters above and below.' This concept was central to both Christian Neoplatonism and alchemical thought, which sought to map the relationship between the macrocosmic divine realm and the microcosmic material world.