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About This Work
The page features a formal typographic layout titled 'Historia Eustachio-Mariana' with a lengthy Latin subtitle describing the life of Saint Eustace and the history of his vision. A small central illustration depicts the Madonna and Child, showing the Virgin Mary seated and holding the infant Jesus. The page also bears a red Jesuit stamp and a blue circular library stamp from Naples.
Athanasius Kircher was the ultimate Jesuit polymath of the 17th century, and this work represents his interest in sacred topography and the archaeological recovery of religious sites. It links the baroque tradition of hagiography with Kircher's wider projects in natural philosophy and historical inquiry.
Inscriptions(Latin)
ATHANASII KIRCHERI E SOCIETATE IESV HISTORIA EVSTACHIO-MARIANA Quâ Admiranda D.Eustachij, Sociorumque Vita ex varijs Authoribus collecta; Locus in quo eidem in Monte Vulturello Christus inter cornua Cerui apparuit, nouiter detectus; Ecclesia quoque B. M. Virginis, quam eodem in loco à Constantino Magno conditam, S. Syluester Papa I. solemni ritu conse- crasse traditur, summo studio inquisita, descripta, necnon varijs Antiquitatum Monumentis illustrata, è densis, qui- bus hucusque delituerunt, tenebris, in publicae lucis bo- num educantur. ROMAE, Ex Typographia Varesij. MDCLXV. SVPERIORVM PERMISSV.