Allegory of the Mathematician

This engraving from 1640 is by Jacob Neefs, after a design by Philip Fruytiers, and was created as an illustration for Disciplinae mathematicae traditae anno institutae S.I. seculari by Joannes Ciermans, published in Leuven that same year. It was intended as an instructional vignette reflecting the Jesuit focus on mathematics and scientific education. The scene features two putti—cherubic figures often used in scholarly allegory—measuring distances, one with a compass and the other with a quadrant, emphasizing the role of precise instruments in 17th-century mathematical and navigational study.