Text: The Sun-God (Title-page to the 1645 edition of Francis Bacon¹s De Dignitate & Augmentis Scientiarum.) Draped over Bacon¹s legs, appearing to hang just beneath the folio book and Bacon¹s right hand, is a cloak. Picked out in dots upon the cloth, near the hem of the cloak, is a sun haloed with solar rays and a face on it‹a face which would appear to be that of the sun god, Apollo, who is normally shown as crowned with solar rays. Apollo¹s Hebraic-Christian counterpart, the Archangel Michael, explains this further, as the name Michael means Œhe who is like God¹ or Œthe face/countenance of God¹. Bacon was known in his life-time as ŒApollo¹, so this is an apt image for a Bacon book and picture; but, in addition to this, the Apollonian sun is fine symbol of the light of nature shining in the warp and weft of nature¹s forms which cloak it, veiling the light from normal sight. This itself is an apt symbol of Part III of the Great Instauration, a Natural History: for the purpose of this history is to provide a collection of all possible examples of life, of the nature of life‹natural, human and divine. The cloak with the Apollonian sun in it represents all this‹a man-made garment, woven from natural fibres, symbolising the veil or cloak of nature in which is hidden the divine light. Appropriately, the sun-face of Apollo is depicted low down in the picture (on Bacon¹s cloak), on the Lord Chancellor¹s right, counterbalancing the temple which is shown raised high up (on its acropolis), on Bacon¹s left. Apollo and Artemis are twins, brother and sister, god of the sun and goddess of the moon. One rules the heart, the other the mind. They are polarities to each other. The Apollonian light is the light of nature, hidden in its heart as the foundation of all things, whilst the temple and vestal flame of Artemis is that of the soul, the illumined mind that is the crown of creation. Apollo and Artemis are also represented by the ŒDouble A¹ headpiece (ŒAA¹) which is printed at the head of certain pages of the Shakespeare folio and other works by Bacon. The emblem known as the ŒPan tailpiece¹ is also associated with this symbolism, depicting Pan and the face of Bride, or Truth (the enlightened soul), within the frame of nature. http://www.fbrt.org.uk/pages/shakespeare/sun-god.html

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