Emblem VIII — The Egg and the Sword
Michael Maier; engraved by Matthäus Merian, 1617
No print size passed the check for this piece: at 10 x 8 in, 124 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged. We would rather show it than sell a soft print.
See pieces like it you can buyA man raises a flaming sword over a large egg resting on a table — Emblem VIII of Atalanta Fugiens, 1617, glossing the instruction, 'take the egg and strike it with a fiery sword.' The philosophical egg was alchemy's image for the sealed vessel in which the whole work took place, a little cosmos of shell and white and yolk; the fiery sword, the heat that opens it. Michael Maier set the scene, and Matthäus Merian engraved it with his usual clarity. Like every plate in the book it came with a verse and a fugue for three voices — a diagram you were expected to hear as well as see.
- Maker
- Michael Maier; engraved by Matthäus Merian
- Date
- 1617
- Medium of the original
- Engraving
- Original held by
- Published Oppenheim, 1617 · scan: Wikimedia Commons
- Credit
- Published Oppenheim, 1617 · scan: Wikimedia Commons
- Rights
- Public domain, verified
- Catalogue number
- PA-00456
Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.
| Size | Why |
|---|---|
| 10 x 8 in | 124 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 12 x 8 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
| 14 x 11 in | Wrong shape: a 10% crop |
| 16 x 12 in | Wrong shape: a 14% crop |
| 18 x 12 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
| 20 x 16 in | 62 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 24 x 16 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
| 24 x 18 in | Wrong shape: a 14% crop |
| 30 x 20 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
| 30 x 24 in | 41 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 36 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
| 40 x 30 in | Wrong shape: a 14% crop |
| 48 x 36 in | Wrong shape: a 14% crop |
| 60 x 40 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
- Scanned
- 2026-10-07
- Master file
- 1,249 x 1,091 px, srgb
- Tone
- Darks 66, lights 185 of 255; 0% clipped light, 0% clipped dark
- Colour
- 0% vivid
- Sharpness
- 26.75
- Notes
- Neutrals lean warm (yellow): the paper and varnish of the original, kept as scanned
The Hermetica
The esoteric tradition’s emblems, astrological figures and the old charts of palmistry and phrenology.
All 58 pieces from The Hermetica
