English: This engraving is part of the first appearance in printed form of the “Oracles of Leo the Wise,” a prophetic forgery which circulated widely throughout the Middle Ages and early modern period. The prophecies were traditionally attributed to Leo VI (866-911/12), Emperor of Byzantium from 866 to his death and, at least in the present work, also to Antonius Severus (188-217). For centuries, the Oracles of Leo constituted a rich and imaginative source for the promotion of politically advantageous “vaticinium ex eventu,” a prophecy from the event”—a prophetic text written by one who already possesses the information of what has transpired so as to make their oracular pronouncements unimpeachable and preternaturally “precise.” While the earliest version of the text foretold the fates of various Byzantine emperors and events that would befall Constantinople itself, the Oracles were later applied to later events, such as the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. This collection of poems, each of which here paired with an ambiguous emblematic illustration, was published in 1596 against the backdrop of the “Long Turkish War” against the Habsburg empire’s Hungarian principalities (1593-96). The illustrations in the volume, rooted in animal and anthropomorphic symbols, are closely keyed with guide letters to the relevant epigrams and allied expositions detailing the verses’ pithy, if enigmatic, meanings. The prophecy of Repentance, for example, illustrated with two crows and a serpent presents an allegory wherein the second son (i.e., the serpent) will destroy the bear (i.e., the king or emperor), only to be savaged itself by crows owing to descent from a degenerate eastern race, thus bringing only despair and tears. Credit: Credit: Bibliotheca Fictiva Collection, Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University. Work held at the John Work Garrett Library, Johns Hopkins University.