Page 220 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

Hyginus' Astronomica is a compendium of
knowledge probably written at the end of the first
or at the beginning of the second century A.D. It is
divided into an introduction and four parts. In
Books ii and in Hyginus names forty-two constel-
lations, discussing the mythological stories associ-
ated with each and its place in the nighttime sky.
This beautiful fifteenth-century manuscript of
Hyginus' work contains eighty vellum leaves, the
last four blank, with thirty-eight illustrations of
the constellations. The text on this opening, deal-
ing with Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius,
comes from Book in (26-28) of the Astronomica.
The form and position of each constellation (at
least as it appeared in Hyginus' time) is clearly
indicated; then comes an account of the positions
of individual stars within the constellation. The
draftsman has carefully followed the textual indi-
cations, although he must have had recourse to a
visual model as well. Each constellation is shown
in its traditional form. Sagittarius, for example, is
a bounding centaur shooting with a bow, while
Capricorn combines the form of a goat (in its
upper half) with fishlike hindquarters.
The grouping of the fixed stars into constella-
tions stems from an impulse to project well-
known images onto the unknown. When, for
example, the configuration of some stars The Este De sphaera, perhaps the most beautiful thought to exert its greatest power. Below is a
reminded ancient observers of the form of a lion, astronomical manuscript of the Renaissance, was seascape with four boats; the classical authority
they gave the name lion (Latin leo) to that con- executed for Francesco Sforza and his wife Bianca Ptolemy explained the Moon's connection with
stellation. Among the constellations are the signs Maria Visconti, daughter of the duke of Milan, water (Tetrabiblos, i, 4): "Most of the moon's
of the zodiac, which form the band of sky that whose coats of arms are shown on the verso of power consists of humidifying, clearly because it
seems, from the earth, to contain the paths of the folio 4. As they were married in 1441 and Fran- is close to the earth and because of the moist
seven planets. It was probably the Babylonians, in cesco died in 1466, the manuscript must have exhalations therefrom." The Italian text below the
the sixth century B.C., who defined the zodiac in been produced between these two dates. It prob- miniature explains the influence of the planet and
the form in which we know it, though of course ably entered the Este library in 1491, when Anna mentions its beneficial influence on navigation:
the names and images familiar to us are those Sforza married Alfonso d'Este. The miniatures "La Luna al navigar molto conforta/Et in peschare
used by the ancient Romans (Aries, Taurus, Gem- have been connected with the illuminator Cristo- et ucellare et caccia,/A tutti is suoi figliuoli apre
ini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, foro de Predis or one of his direct predecessors. la porta/Et anche al solazzare che ad altri piaccia."
Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces). J.M.M. The manuscript includes a number of pages On the next page (fol. lor) are shown people
with diagrams, but its most important feature is a born under the Moon and influenced by it, the
group of illuminations, from folio 5v to folio i2r, Moon's so-called children; there are two fisher-
each containing a personification of a planet and men, a hunter with a gluestick, a peasant beating
its influence on the lefthand page, with various his donkey, a group of players around a table, and,
occupations associated with that planet on the in the lower right corner, a tired pilgrim massag-
righthand page. This iconographic scheme had its ing his sore foot. J.M.M.
origin in classical antiquity, when seven heavenly
bodies were observed to move at different rates
116
through a band of the sky and were identified as
THE MOON AND VARIOUS the "planets" (Moon [Luna], Mercury, Venus,
OCCUPATIONS ASSOCIATED Sun [So/], Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). The band of
WITH THE PLANET stars was divided into twelve constellations, which
became the signs of the zodiac (see cat. 115). At
from De sphaera this time, the sun and the moon were thought to
c. 1450-1466 be planets, like the other five, while the outer
Lombard planets were still unknown. In the De sphaera the
manuscript on parchment, 16 fols. Moon (fol. 9v) is personified as a young woman,
5
5
24.5 x 17 (9 /s x 6 /s) practically nude and holding a burning torch in
references: Orlandini 1914; Pellegrin 1955, 384; one hand and a golden horn in the other. She
Ludovici 1958; McGurk 1966, 47-48; Alexander stands on two small wheels, the rotae fortunae
2
2
1977'> 3 > 93-94, pis. 7~ 28 (wheels of fortune), an astrological notion. The
Biblioteca Estense, Modena, MS Lat. 209 zodiacal sign between Luna's legs is Cancer, her
fols. 9v-ior "house," that is, the sign in which the Moon was
EUROPE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD 219