The Emblem Shelf
Scala Philosophorum, the Philosophers’ Ladder
A ladder of circles from matter to God.
- Work
- from Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer
- Maker
- Anonymous; published at Altona
- Date
- 1785
- Source
- Published Altona, 1785 · scan: Wikimedia Commons
Format
The full-resolution scan, color-managed to the source plate — yours to print, study, and explore.
Size
$29.00
The story
A ladder of linked, hand-coloured circles climbs the page from Materia at the bottom to the divine name in Hebrew at the top, under the heading Scala Philosophorum Cabalistica Magia. The plate comes from the Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer, the secret figures of the Rosicrucians, printed at Altona in 1785 from figures said to date from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Each circle is a step, labelled in German and Latin. It is a chart of the whole world, from earth up, small enough to hold.
See it on your wall
The plate, in your home
Scala Philosophorum, the Philosophers’ Ladder printed large and framed, hung in rooms like yours. Every edition ships ready to become the piece the room is built around.
About this reproduction
- A faithful reproduction of a public-domain plate — from Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer (1785), held by Published Altona, 1785 · scan: Wikimedia Commons. The work was published before 1931 and is centuries out of copyright.
- Printed to order on 200gsm EMA matte art paper; framed pieces sit behind acrylic, no mat.
- Color-managed to the source scan; we correct nothing and invent nothing.
- Ships in 5–10 business days, rolled in a heavy-wall tube (framed pieces ship flat-packed).
- If it arrives less than perfect, we reprint or refund — your choice.
Why our plates cost more than a poster: we print from the highest-resolution scans available, at sizes where the engraving itself becomes visible — the emblem line, the letterpress bite, the registration of colour — on stock made to outlive its owner.
