A woman representing philosophy. Etching by B. Audran the elder, c. 1700, after Raphael.

The design is the roundel placed above Raphael's "School of Athens" in the Vatican. Cherubs hold up placards with the lettering "Causarum cognitio" (knowledge of causes). The woman holds books entitled "Moralis" and "Na[tural]is", referring to moral philosophy and natural philosophy. Her dress has designs of plants, fishes, scorpions and stars. The front of her seat is formed by sculpted many-breasted figures similar to the Ephesian Artemis: on the chests of each is a scene showing an old man holding out his hand to a woman emerging from water; a scorpion lies between them. The statues bear two birds and a small man on their heads