The History of the Two Worlds

Mirror of the Whole of Nature and the Image of Art.

The Hebrew name of God, the Tetragrammaton (יהוה), appears within a celestial cloud at the highest point. A divine hand emerges from this light to hold a golden chain, which is linked to the figure of Nature.

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This complex engraving is organized in concentric rings and sections around two central figures: a monumental woman representing Nature, and a seated ape representing "Art" (human skill and technology). The layout shows how God influences Nature, and how human Art mimics Nature.

original: "Ars naturam corrigens in regno minerali." This refers to alchemy and metallurgy.

original: "Ars naturam adjuvans in regno vegetabili." This refers to agriculture and gardening.

original: "Ars naturam ſupplens in regno animali." This refers to medicine and the training of animals.

The More Liberal Arts
Minerals
Vegetables
Animals

The Element of Water and Earth.

The following table lists pairs from the terrestrial world, arranged by Fludd to show the correspondence between male and female, or "noble" and "base" versions of things in the landscape:

Human technical and artistic disciplines surround the central "Ape of Art," who sits upon the globe holding a compass. These are the tools humans use to "imitate" the natural world:

distillation by descent

distillation by filter

distillation by alembic A type of still used in alchemy and chemistry.

• Arith. Arithmetic
• Music
• Geometry
• Perspective
• Painting
• Fortification?
• Machines?

Moving outward from the Earth at the center, we find the elemental and planetary spheres as they were understood in the 17th-century geocentric (earth-centered) model:

• Element of Air.
• Element of Fire.
• Sphere of the Moon.
• Sphere of Mercury.
• Sphere of Venus.
• Sphere of the Sun.
• Sphere of Mars.
• Sphere of Jupiter.
• Sphere of Saturn.
• The Starry Heaven

The outermost ring contains the signs of the Zodiac and the various "choirs" or ranks of angels, all contained within the "Empyrean" or the realm of divine fire and God's presence.