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The Children of the Planets the of Children The THE CHILDREN OF THE PLANETS: FREEDOM, NECESSITY, AND THE IMPACT OF THE STARS – THE ICONOGRAPHIC DIMENSIONS OF A PAN-EUROPEAN EARLY MODERN DISCOURSE By Breanne Herrera Submitted to Central European University History Department In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts Supervisor: Professor Matthias Riedl Second Reader: Professor György Szőnyi CEU eTD Collection Budapest, Hungary 2012 CEU eTD Collection Copyright in the text of this thesis rests with the Author. Copies by any process, either in full or part, may be made only in accordance with the instructions given by the Author and lodged in the Central European Library. Details may be obtained from the librarian. This page must form a part of any such copies made. Further copies made in accordance with such instructions may not be made without the written permission of the Author. CEU eTD Collection ABSTRACT The “Children of the Planets” is an astrological visual motif that depicts the seven planets as personified deities along side their ‘planet children’ who are generally seen as smaller persons below the planet representing the influences and activities associated with each planet. The iconography of the planets themselves can be traced to the 12th century, but we do not see the additional characters, the children, that define this motif, until the 14th century in fresco imagery and not until the beginning of the 15th century in manuscript illumination. This interesting development in depictions of the planets, from the 12th to the 15th century, highlights a shift in the perception and understanding of astrology that culminated in the early modern period. The many Renaissance prints that display this motif are witnesses to the popularity of a new perception of astrology. The purpose of this thesis is not only to retrace the history and development of this motif – to answer some questions about the provenance and meaning of the motif that have never fully been answered – but also to show how as a concept the ‘children of the planets’ represents a development in the philosophy of the early modern period. The Children of the Planets depict a new model in astrological thinking, a development brought on by a synthesis of ideas occurring in the transmission stories of different texts and images. The Children of the Planets fit into a broader conceptual framework where we can look at some of the intellectual trends in the fifteenth century. The humanists of this time period, like Marsilio Ficino, give us insight into some of the reasons we find these interactions, of religious, astrological, medicinal, and everyday life, in early prints. In the discussion in our first chapter, we find in Ficino’s writings the first use of the term prisca CEU eTD Collection theologia. The idea of a ‘natural religion,’ the idea that the divine is common to all, can be seen in many literatures during this time. This is the way of thinking that was informing the genres of early printing that the Children of the Planets find a venue in. As Ficino himself tried to harmonize Christian theology with Platonic philosophy and Ptolemaic astrology, so ii does our motif. The De vita libri tres can be seen as a complex example in the genre we will define throughout this essay, of works dedicated to the ‘good’ way of living through practical approaches toward the acquiring knowledge of the world through right action in everyday life. The manuscripts and prints containing the Children of the Planets are another example. These works provide guidelines for how to approach subjects in philosophy, theology, and health, those topics that readers would find useful and beneficial in their daily lives. CEU eTD Collection iii CEU eTD Collection iv Table of Contents LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........................................................................................................................ VII INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 1 I. THE MOTIF AS A TOOL............................................................................................................................. 5 II. EXAMPLES .................................................................................................................................................. 6 III. FRITZ SAXL AND THE SURROUNDING SCHOLARSHIP ............................................................... 8 IV. TREATISE ON THE SEVEN PLANETS: THE CHILDREN OF THE PLANETS IN THE ........... 12 FRAMEWORK OF PTOLEMAIC ASTROLOGY...................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................................... 20 “BEING A PLANET’S CHILD BY CHOICE” ............................................................................................. 20 I. CASSIRER AND HIS TREATMENT OF FICINO’S ASTROLOGICAL SOLUTION: ...................... 21 FINDING FREE WILL IN DIVINE WILL .................................................................................................. 21 II. AUGUSTINE ON FORTUNA AND FELICITAS .................................................................................. 23 III. FICINO’S DE VITA COELITUS COMPARANDA AND THE PICATRIX ......................................... 27 IV. THE PERFECTION OF THE SELF AND ‘PERFECT NATURE’ ..................................................... 32 V. PRISCA THEOLOGIA AND PHILOSOPHIA PERENNIS .................................................................... 36 VI. PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA’S DE HOMNIS DIGNITATE ................................................................ 39 CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................................... 44 THE CHILDREN OF THE PLANETS IN MANUSCRIPTS ..................................................................... 44 I. THE HERITAGE OF MANUSCRIPTS AND THE CONTEXTS OF THE IMAGES ......................... 50 II. KITĀB AL-BULHĀN ................................................................................................................................. 53 III. THE CHILDREN OF THE PLANETS: SURVEY OF EUROPEAN MANUSCRIPTS.................... 61 IV. KRAKÓW PICATRIX ............................................................................................................................. 70 CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................................................... 75 ‘HOUSEBOOKS’ IN THE TRANSITION FROM MANUSCRIPT TO PRINT IN 15TH CENTURY EUROPE ......................................................................................................................................................... 75 I. CONTEXT OF BLOCK-BOOKS AND WOODBLOCK PRINTS ........................................................ 77 II. THE CALENDAR IN PRINTS ................................................................................................................ 82 CEU eTD Collection III. THE CHILDREN OF THE PLANETS – SCIENTIFIC, RELIGIOUS, AND MAGICAL ................. 84 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................................ 88 “THE PROBLEM OF THE PLANET CHILDREN” .................................................................................. 88 BIBLIOGRAPHIES ....................................................................................................................................... 94 MANUSCRIPTS ............................................................................................................................................. 94 15TH C. SCOTUS. LIBER INTRODUCTORIUS. OXFORD. MS BODL. 266. OXFORD ..................... 94 EARLY PRINTS ............................................................................................................................................. 95 v CITED WORKS ............................................................................................................................................. 96 ILLUSTRATIONS .......................................................................................................................................102 CEU eTD Collection vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Luna and Children, 1480 Housebook (Waldburg Wolfegg/ Rijksmuseum Amsterdam). Photographs by Breanne Herrera, courtesy of Warburg Library. 2. Jupiter and Children, ibid. 3. Saturn text, ibid. 4. Saturn and Children, ibid. 5. Lover’s Garden, ibid. 6. Venus and her Children, 1460 De Sphaera (Cristoforo de Perdis) Modena. Lat. 202, Estense. http://estense.cedoc.mo.it/info/img/i-mo-beu-alfa.x.2.14.pdf. 7. Children of Venus, ibid. 8. Mars and Children, ibid. 9. Children of Mars, ibid. 10. Mercury and Children, ibid. 11. Children of Mercury, ibid. 12. Four Jupiters, 1458 ca. Kraków Picatrix. BJ 793. Sniezynska-Stolot, Picatrix Latinus.† 13. Saturn, ibid. 14. Mercury, ibid. 15. Venus, ibid. 16. – 18. Three Mars, ibid. 19. Wheel of Seven Spirits of Mars, The ‘Spanish Picatrix,’ Mars, 13th c. Vatican Library. Reg. lat. 1283a. Agostino, Astromagia.† 20. Twenty Eight Moon Mansions – Luna, ibid. 21. Saturn, 16th c. Treatise on stones (ref. Ghayat). BNF MS arabe 2775. Pingree, “Indian Planetary Images.”† 22. Jupiter, ibid. 23. Mars, Ghayat, M. Nasar. Cairo, n.d. 24. Treasure of Alexander,
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