Title Engraving with Heron Among Water Works

What it is

This is an engraved title page from a 1688 book about water art and hydraulics. It shows a seated bearded man in robes, holding an open book with a diagram, placed in an arched niche decorated with curtains, columns and a shell motif. A cartouche below names Heron of Alexandria.

Why it matters

By the late 1600s, Heron's reputation as the ancient inventor of water and pressure devices had become so strong that later European engineers put his image on the covers of their own technical books. This shows how his ideas continued to shape engineering centuries after his lifetime, long after the original texts were lost or transformed through translation.

Look closer

• Why might a 17th-century book-maker want Heron's face on the cover of a new book?
• What does the decorative imagery (shells, columns, curtains) suggest about how people of this period viewed ancient knowledge?
• Is this image likely to be an accurate portrait of Heron, or something else?