Kircher: Ars Magna Sciendi (1669)

This elaborate allegorical engraving serves as a visual summary of the book's contents. At the top center, the Eye of Providence within a triangle radiates light. Below it, two angels hold a broad banner with the book's title. In the center, Wisdom sits on a high-backed throne, crowned and bearing a radiant sun on her breast. She points with a wand toward the "Alphabets of the Art." Above her head, fifteen circular medallions representing various academic disciplines form an arch. To her left, an eye emerges from a cloud with the label "By Reason," while two young boys hold an open book. To her right, an ear emerges from a cloud with the label "By Practice and Experience," while two more boys support a large tablet containing the "Alphabets of the Art." The throne sits on a pedestal with Greek inscriptions. The background at the bottom depicts a coastal landscape with ships at sea and a smoking volcano on land.

ATHANASIUS KIRCHER OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS

THE GREAT ART OF KNOWLEDGE

THE ART OF COMBINATION

The following medallions are arranged in an arch above the central figure of Wisdom:
Theology, Metaphysics, Physics, Logic, Medicine, Mathematics, Moral Ethics, Poetics, Jurisprudence The study of law., Politics, Scriptural Interpreters, Controversial Theology, Scholastic Theology, Rhetoric, The Art of Preaching.

original: "Μηδὲν Κάλλιον ἢ πάντα εἰδέναι."