This is the frontispiece to Francis Bacon's 1620 Instauratio Magna which contained the tract Novum Organon. The frontispiece depicts a ship travelling between the metaphorical Pillars of Hercules which were thought to lie at the strait of Gibraltar and were believed to mark the end of the known world. The engraving draws on the new knowledge brought home by recent voyages of exploration, and is an allegory for the new world of concrete knowledge Bacon emphasized in his plan to go beyond the traditional philosophy taught in universities.