HARMONY

UNIVERSAL

A detailed copperplate engraving illustrates the power of music to harmonize nature. A classically draped male figure, representing Orpheus or King David, sits beneath a large tree playing a lyre. He is surrounded by a peaceful assembly of animals, including a prominent horse on the left, a lion, a stag, a monkey in the tree, two giraffes in the background, a dog, a tortoise, and a rabbit. The background features a landscape of rolling hills and mountains. The scene is framed by a thin black border.

From an ancient marble relief of the most illustrious Marquis Mattei of Rome. Engraved by M. le Roy

The Mattei family were famous art collectors in Rome. This engraving mimics a classical relief from their collection.

For I will also praise your truth to you with the instruments of the psalms: O God, I will sing to you upon the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. Psalm 70. original: "Nam & ego confitebor tibi in vasis psalmi veritatē tuam: Deus psallam tibi in Cithara, sanctus Israel." The term lyre here translates the Latin "cithara." In the 17th century, this referred to both ancient Greek instruments and the biblical "kinnor." Psalm 70 in the Vulgate numbering corresponds to Psalm 71 in many modern translations.