1671 Kircher / Burgundus Representation of Humanity and the Cosmos (Homo Signorum)

This is Athanasius Kircher's diagram 'Sciathericon Medicinae Coelestis,' published for his Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae. The work is characteristic of the thought of Kircher, one of the most original and prolific philosophers of his day, in that it draws on a range of traditions and influences, including mysticism, numerology, and what today would be called astrology.

A Closer Look

This symbolically-rich diagram is an example of a 'sciathericon,' Kircher's term for a sundial or astronomical instrument that could be used to determine time, map celestial movements, and develop astrological predictions. At the center is a representation of a human, Homo signorum, with organs displayed. In one hand, he holds the sun, while his other hand is chained, connected to the hand of God above. Surrounding the man are concentric circles, stars, astrological symbols, the signs of the zodiac, and the corresponding months of the year. Vertical tables of medicines align with the months/zodiac signs to form a matrix for determining the best medicine for the given time and organ or part of the body afflicted. The connection between the heavenly and terrestrial spheres is denoted with the phrases 'Ut superius' at the top and 'Ita et inferius' at the bottom. The translation of the full title of the image is 'The Sciathericon of Celestial Medicine, in which the lower stars connected to the higher ones, the members of the microcosm, applied in corresponding signs, produce wonders.'

One particularly interesting aspect of the diagram is the reference to earlier Muslim and Jewish thought. Two figures appear at the top; they are Medieval astrologers/astronomers: the Persian Jewish Mashallah ibn Athari (Messala) and the Arab Haly Abenragel. Near them are banners in Hebrew and Arabic (one wonders who was employed to do the engraving on this part), probably reflecting the influence of Ramon Llull (discussed below).

Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae

This sheet appeared in Kircher's work Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae… ('The Great Art of Light and Shadow'), which was an important milestone in the history of science, being the first published work in Europe on illumination and the projection of images. The book also included the first published illustration of Saturn and one of the first published descriptions of a microscope, of Kircher's own design, which he called a 'smicroscopus.' Otherwise, there were hundreds of pages of text, diagrams, illustrations, and maps dealing with all facets of light, color, vision, and optics. Soon before Ars Magna…, Kircher published a book on magnetism (Magnes sive de Arte Magnetica), and the titles of the two books made a playful duo. They also fit into Kircher's broader philosophical framework, in which magnetism played a central role. (His first book, Ars Magnesia, published in 1631, was on the topic.)

The name of this book was also influenced by the 13th century Majorcan thinker Ramon Llull (c. 1232 - 1316), whose philosophical system dubbed 'Ars,' set out in a book titled Ars Magna, heavily influenced Kircher and others, particularly alchemists, in the early modern period. Llull's system, rooted in combinatorics and numerology, was itself strongly influenced by Arabic astronomy and combinations of the Hebrew alphabet from Kabbalah traditions. Kircher was also clearly impacted by Llull's fascination with 'volvelles,' concentric discs with concepts written on them that could be rotated into different alignments to divine meaning.

Kircher was so taken with the phrase 'Ars Magna' that he used it in the titles of two of his other works, Musurgia Universalis sive Ars Magna Consoni et Dissoni (1650) and Ars Magna Sciendi Sive Combinatoria (1669), the latter being in many ways the culmination of his life's thought. Taken as a whole, the work is indicative of the state of European intellectual history at the time, highly curious about the outside world, developing new techniques and practices for experimentation, and aiming to develop a comprehensive system of thought that combined elements of what would later be divided into science proper and pseudo-science.

Publication History and Census

This diagram was engraved by frequent Kircher collaborator Petrus Miotte Burgundus and appeared in the 1671 edition of Kircher's Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae, published by Jansson in Amsterdam. It is numbered Iconismus XVI, and followed Iconismus XV, 'Sciathericon Electionis Boni et Mali 12 Signa per Currente,' which was an astronomical calendar in the shape of a phoenix that also incorporated zodiac symbols and Hebrew text. The present sheet is not independently cataloged in the OCLC. The entire Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae is well-represented in institutional collections, but only occasionally appears on the market, generally at high-end auction houses.