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Book/Printed Material A Description of the Celestial Sphere and the Planets. Spherae coelestis et planetarum descriptio

About this Item

Title

  • A Description of the Celestial Sphere and the Planets.

Other Title

  • Spherae coelestis et planetarum descriptio

Summary

  • Spherae coelestis et planetarum descriptio (A description of the celestial sphere and the planets) is the most famous astrological manuscript of the Renaissance. It is made up of 15 full-page miniatures representing the seven planets together with their constellations and representations of their influence on human activities. The rhymed texts that accompany the miniatures function as captions and are in Gothic script. The creator of the illuminations is not easy to recognize, but critics point to similarities with the work of the Milanese artist Cristoforo De Predis (1440-86). The style of the manuscript and its landscape representations clearly show that it was produced by a workshop in the Lombard area. The astrological sources of the work have not been completely ascertained, but it is certain that the illuminator knew the Tractatus de Sphaera (Treatise on the sphere) by Joannes de Sacro Bosco (also known as John of Holywood, circa 1195-circa 1256), an astronomer and mathematician of English origins. The presence of the coats of arms of the Sforza and the Visconti families suggest that the manuscript came to the Estense Library as part of the dowry of Anna Sforza (1476-97), daughter of Galeazzo Maria, duke of Milan, who in 1491 married Alfonso I d'Este, duke of Ferrara, Modena, and Reggio. The edition presented here is a facsimile of the original, made in Modena in 1995.

Names

  • Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, 1476-1534 Patron.
  • De Predis, Cristoforo, 1440-1486 Associated Name.

Created / Published

  • [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1491.

Headings

  • -  Italy--Lombardy
  • -  1491
  • -  Astrology
  • -  Astronomy
  • -  Astronomy, Renaissance
  • -  Codex
  • -  Illuminations
  • -  Miniatures (Illuminations)
  • -  Planets
  • -  Stars

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 16 folios : illuminations ; 24.5 x 17 centimeters.
  • -  Reference extracted from World Digital Library: Franca Varallo, "De Predis, Cristoforo," in Treccani Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani 39 (Rome: Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, 1991).
  • -  Original resource at: Estense Library, Modena.
  • -  Content in Italian and Latin.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021668198

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Alfonso I D'Este, Duke Of Ferrara, Patron, and Cristoforo De Predis. A Description of the Celestial Sphere and the Planets. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, 1491] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668198/.

APA citation style:

Alfonso I D'Este, D. O. F. & De Predis, C. (1491) A Description of the Celestial Sphere and the Planets. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668198/.

MLA citation style:

Alfonso I D'Este, Duke Of Ferrara, Patron, and Cristoforo De Predis. A Description of the Celestial Sphere and the Planets. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, 1491] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021668198/>.