Geometria, from "The Seven Liberal Arts"
Johann Sadeler I Netherlandish
After Maerten de Vos Netherlandish
Not on view
First conceptualized in the Middle Ages, the term "liberal arts" refers to the areas of study deemed necessary to attain an education grounded in classical antiquity. These subjects, which were divided into two categories—the trivium (grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric) and the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music)—became common themes for allegorical prints in the early modern period. While Sadeler conceptualized the practice of arithmetic as a personal act of concentration, Geometria sits among classical ruins and exotic animals demonstrating geometry’s application in fields such as architecture, astronomy, cosmology, geography, and surveying.
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