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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileKircher oedipus aegyptiacus 12 isis mater deorum
The woodcut shows Isis standing in a hilly landscape, wearing a robe decorated with star patterns and a crescent moon emblem on her chest. Her elaborate headdress features stalks of grain and serpent motifs, while she holds a ceremonial sistrum in her raised right hand and a bucket-like situla in her lowered left. She is surrounded by alphabetical labels (A-S) that correspond to a descriptive key in the margins detailing her attributes as a lunar and agricultural deity. The style is illustrative, using high-contrast black and white linework typical of 17th-century printed books.
This image derives from Athanasius Kircher's 'Oedipus Aegyptiacus' (1652–1654), which attempted to reconstruct the prisca theologia and decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs through an esoteric, syncretic lens. It illustrates the late antique tradition of Isis as a 'pantheos'—a universal goddess encompassing the attributes of all other deities.
ISIDIS Magnæ Deorum Matris A P V L E I A N A D E S C R I P T I O. [Left column list of names: Isis, Minerva, Venus, Iuno, Proserpina, Ceres, Diana, Rhea feu Tellus, Pessinuncia, Rhramnufia, Bellona, Hecate, Luna, Polymorphus dæmon.] [Right column list of symbolic explanations A-S] [Greek text in top margin: Ἶσις πανδειχὴς πολυμόρφου δαίμονος. Μυεώνυμος φύσις, ὕλη.] [Greek text in bottom margin: Ἀκραῖ Θιῶν Μήτηρ ταύτη πολυήμφω ΙΣΙΣ.] [Artist signature in lower left: Ravella F.N.]
Translation
Isis, Great Mother of the Gods, Apuleian Description. [Left list: names of goddesses.] [Greek top: Isis, all-showing of the polymorphous daemon. Nameless nature, matter.] [Greek bottom: Highest Mother of the Gods, in this, many-formed ISIS.]
Apuleius, The Golden Ass
The image is an explicit visual interpretation of the description of Isis provided in Book XI of Apuleius's novel.
Object
woodcut
laid paper
Baroque
German
emblem
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
3821 × 6377 px
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview on April 20, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.