Astronomical Images : Astrological chart of a parricide

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. Collections of astrological charts were popular in the sixteenth century, and were the result of a thriving exchange between astrologers, physicians, and other learned men, who actively sought and copied them in order to expand their collections. Charts of famous men and women were assembled alongside those of lesser-known individuals, while those of individuals who experienced particularly striking events such as an extreme illness or a violent death seem to have been especially desirable. This can perhaps be attributed to the excellent opportunity such examples offered to the astrologer in terms of testing and refining their interpretations. One such example is this chart of a parricide from Girolamo Cardano's <i>Libelli quinque</i> (1547), which was presumably interpreted in order to offer an astrological explanation for the murder of the person's father.</p>