Hermes Trismegistos Teaching Ptolemy the World System (detail), ca. 500–600 Hermes Trismegistos Teaching Ptolemy the World System
Eastern Mediterranean, ca. 500–600
Silver plate
Lent by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
83.AM.342

According to legend, Hermes Trismegistos lived in the biblical era of Moses, but the philosophical writings under his name blended pagan and Christian philosophy of the Roman Empire. When these texts were rediscovered in the Renaissance, "Hermeticism" inspired thinkers across the arts and sciences.