1617 Fludd Rosicrucian Cosmographical Diagram of the Universe

This is a rare 1617 Rosicrucian hierarchical diagram organizing the divine, cosmic, natural, and human experience into a structured, symbolic system. It was designed by the English Rosicrucian and alchemist Robert Fludd, who sought to condense the hermetic, Neoplatonic, and alchemical worldviews into a coherent vision of reality. Although rooted in Rennaissance thought, this image offers an enduring visual metaphor for the search for meaning, reflecting the impulse to systematically rationalize human experience.

A Closer Look

The image encompasses the cosmos in a series of concentric circles. The Earth, being the physical world, is at the center, surrounded by all aspects of art and human creativity (Ars Imitatio Naturae): cultivation of the land, alchemy, medicine, art, music, science, mathematics, and more. This gives way to higher forms of existence, from the conceptual Artes Liberaliores to the physical worlds of Mineralia, Vegetabilia, and Animalia, then to the cosmic world, including elements of the Zodiac, Sun, Moon, and planets. This, in turn, is encompassed by the divine spheres, symbolized by cherubs, angels, and seraphs. Linking everything together is the 'Great Chain of Being' (Scala Naturae), a hermetical concept connecting the inanimate to the animal world (represented at center by a mathematically inclined ape) to the human - presented boldly as a cosmic woman, the pinnacle of the material world, possessing reason and a soul, but also subject to bodily limitations - then celestial, and ultimately, divine spheres. At the pinnacle is God (Deus), reflecting the Neoplatonic concept of emanation, where all things derive from a single divine principle.

Philosophical Meaning

The Latin phrase Integrae Naturae Speculum, Artisque Imago translates as 'The Mirror of Integrated Nature and the Image of Art.' This phrase originates from the title of a philosophical and alchemical emblem book published in 1617 by the German Jesuit Johann Remmelin (1583 - 1632) and is deeply rooted in Renaissance and Baroque conceptions of art, nature, and divine order.

As suggested by the title, the image proposes that Nature and Art are reflections of each other, mirrors (speculum) through which divine truth and the ideal forms of the universe can be understood. It is based on the Neoplatonic and Hermetic idea that art is not merely a human creation but a means of replicating or uncovering the deeper truths of nature.

In Renaissance thought, nature was considered a divine creation structured according to mathematical and artistic principles. The speculum suggests that by studying nature, one can glimpse the higher cosmic order or divine mind. Art, in this context, is not merely an imitation of reality but a creative process that reveals hidden meanings within nature. Art enhances nature's beauty and, in turn, reflects the divine.

Publication History and Census

This image was drawn by Robert Fludd for the Macrocosm component of his 1617 Utriusque cosmi maioris et minoris metaphysica, physica, atque technica. The engraving is attributed to Jean-Théodore de Bry. Both the book and separate engraving are exceedingly rare.