Astronomical Images : Astrological chart of a monster

Girolamo Cardano

Astronomical Images

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Astrological charts such as this represent the position of the planets and the constellations of the zodiac in the sky at a given moment in time, and are thus one of the ways in which astronomical data were visualised on paper during the early modern period. According to the traditional qualities associated with particular celestial bodies, the relative planetary positions recorded in these charts could be interpreted to explain and predict terrestrial occurrences. Such charts were frequently cast for the time of someone's birth in order to offer an interpretation of their life in its entirety, though they were also cast at other times to offer more short-term prognostication. As well as indicating the positions of the Sun, Moon and five planets (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury) in the zodiac, the charts are also divided into twelve astrological 'houses', each governing a particular aspect of a person's life. The complex relationship of the celestial bodies with the signs of the zodiac and the astrological houses, as well as the relative positions of the planets to one another, forms the basis of any interpretation of an astrological chart. Along with pivotal events in a person's life, particularly illness and death, physical disabilities of various sorts could also be interpreted astrologically, as emphasised by this chart of a 'monstrous' birth cast by the physician and astrologer, Girolamo Cardano (1501-1576). Though the nature of the physical disability is unknown in this instance, Cardano explains it according to the relative positions of the planets in the zodiac at the time of birth; for instance, the opposition of the two maleficent planets, Mars and Saturn. In addition to explaining the disability, Cardano also uses this chart to predict the fortunes of this person in later life.</p>