Portrait of John Dee with Globe and Compass

This black-and-white engraving depicts a bearded, elderly man in a fur-lined robe and a cap. He gazes downward with a serious expression, his left hand pressing a metal compass onto the surface of a globe, while his right hand holds a surveyor's square or set square. The image is framed by a decorative laurel-leaf border. The artist uses dense cross-hatching to create depth in the folds of the heavy robe and the texture of the globe.

John Dee was a central figure in Elizabethan natural philosophy, navigation, and Enochian magic, famously claiming communication with angels. The inclusion of the globe and geometric tools underscores his role as an imperial scientist and polymath whose occult practices were deeply integrated with his geographical and mathematical work.