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  • An alchemist reading in a romanticised laboratory setting. Watercolour painting, 19th century.
  • An alchemist peacefully writing in a room strewn with papers. Engraving by V.A.L. Texier after F. Giani after T. Wyck.
  • Putti study the plants in a botanical garden; representing botany. Etching by B. Picart, 1729, after himself.
  • Personifications of law, medicine and theology argue over the superiority of their respective professions. Engraving by GWHWHNM, ca. 1720.
  • A woman on a throne in a classroom; representing grammar. Etching by C. Schut.
  • An alchemist concentrates on a book in his study, while Death next to him tells him "My dear Herr Collaborator, you are are too hardworking". Gouache painting.
  • An alchemist copying a text, surrounded by apparatus, attended by his dog. Wood engraving.
  • A physiognomist whose body is entirely made up of faces, sitting at a table diagnosing people's physiognomic characteristics with the help of a book. Coloured lithograph by G.E. Madeley after G. Spratt, 1831.
  • A group of figures from antiquity are led into a garden by a woman with a telescope and a hand mirror. Etching.
  • Literature saving the past from destruction by Time, in the form of a winged old man with a scythe. Etching by L. du Guernier.
  • Literature saving the past from destruction by Time, in the form of a winged old man with a scythe. Etching by L. du Guernier.
  • King Louis XIV is crowned with a garland while the 'Dictionaire de l'academie françoise' is celebrated with flowers by three women aided by genii. Engraving by J. Mariette and G. Edelinck, 1694, after J.B. Corneille.
  • Figures representing the investigation of nature; in the background, Pliny the elder being killed while investigating Vesuvius during its eruption. Engraving by J. Wangner after G. Eichler the younger, ca. 1759.
  • An omniscient virtuoso gestures boastfully at all the knowledge that lies available to him. Etching by G.M. Mitelli, c. 1700.
  • Christ among the doctors. Engraving by A. de Bruyn, c. 1580, after S. Crispi.
  • Apollo, god of literature, plays his harp; a town goes about its rituals. Engraving by J. Sadeler after J. van der Straet, 1594.
  • A scholar's study. Etching by C.W. Sherborn, 1890.
  • A despondent winged woman holding a geometrical instrument surrounded by attributes associated with knowledge; representing melancholia. Heliogravure attributed to C. Amand-Durand, 18--, after A. Dürer, 1514.
  • A despondent winged woman holding a geometrical instrument surrounded by attributes associated with knowledge; representing melancholia. Heliogravure attributed to C. Amand-Durand, 18--, after A. Dürer, 1514.
  • A woman representing truth sits in a chemical laboratory and points at the source of a ray of light, representing philosophy. Engraving by Crabb, 1817, after G.M. Brighty.
  • Roger Bacon conducting an alchemical experiment in a vaulted cloister. Etching by J. Nasmyth, 1845.
  • Christ among the doctors. Etching by A. Scacciati, 1766, after G.B. Moroni, c. 1570.
  • Melancholia: a female figure contemplating a skull, surrounded by attributes of knowledge and learning. Engraving after D. Fetti.
  • A schoolroom; illustrating Biblical proverbs on the necessity of the discipline of children. Engraving by H. Goltzius.
  • A seething mass of people driven by a multitude of different wills; representing the levelling of life by death. Etching by G.M. Mitelli after himself, 1690.
  • A scholar pores over a book, searching for inspiration. Etching by F. Basan after D. Teniers the younger.
  • A scholar-alchemist pores over a book, searching for inspiration. Etching by F. Basan after D. Teniers the younger.
  • A scholar-alchemist pores over a book, searching for inspiration. Etching by F. Basan after D. Teniers the younger.
  • Christ teaches the doctors; while they scour books, he points upwards to indicate the source of his knowledge. Engraving by C. Levasseur after Borel after J. Ribera.
  • A woman personifying anatomy looks searchingly into the light emanating from a corpse, but she is mortally threatened by the scythe of Time; representing anatomy's struggle with decay. Engraving by N-G. Dupuis, 1759, after J-B-M. Pierre.