Frontispiece to the History of the Royal Society (after John Evelyn)

Born into the minor nobility in Prague, Wenceslaus Hollar learned the art of printmaking in Germany, but after entering the service of the Earl of Arundel in 1636 he spent most of his adult life in London. This well-known etching has been called "one of the most frequently reproduced works of the seventeenth century." The Royal Society, which still exists today as the United Kingdom’s academy of sciences, originally consisted of gentlemen scholars whose mission was "the improving of natural knowledge." Its founding marked a shift toward notions of knowledge based on the scientific method, not on deductive logic or stated authority. The premier representative of this new scientific view was Sir Francis Bacon, depicted at right; Lord Brouncker, the society’s first president, appears on the left. In the center, a bust of Charles II is crowned with a wreath by the allegorical figure of Fame.