Urbano VIII Pont Opt Max cùm acc[??]tior [Melissographia written in Greek capital letters], à Lynceorum Academia, in perpetuae devotionis symbolum ipsi offerretur..
Greuter, Mathieu,1564?-1638.
Stelluti, Francesco,1577-1653.
UrbanVIII,Pope,1568-1644.
Rycke, Josse de,1587-1627.
Accademia nazionale dei Lincei.
[Rome? : s.n.,
1625?]
In 1618 Francesco Stelluti and other members of the "Academy of the Lynx", one of the first scientific societies, used a compound microscope to produce enlarged drawings of bees. Grueter's engraving of 1625 is based upon one of these earlier drawings produced by the Academy. The engraving also includes a Latin poem complimenting Pope Urban VIII. Bees were the heraldic emblem of the Barberini family, to which the Pope belonged.
The engraving has been signed "M. Greuter".
A manuscript entry in pencil underneath the signature on the engraving reads "Matthäus Greuter".
The text beneath the poem reads "Iustus. Riquius. Lynceus. Belga".
Accompanied by a collection of ephemera and correspondence relating to the history of the engraving.
Bees