Astronomical Images : Astrological revolution of the death of Stefano Trivulzio

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. Although birth charts were arguably the most common form of astrological chart, the astrologer could also utilise a related technique known as a 'revolution', which traced the position of the celestial bodies around the time of a person's birthday (specifically when the Sun returned to the same position on the ecliptic that it had occupied in the birth chart). A revolution could thereby offer information of likely events and circumstances for that particular year. Due to the relation of the revolution to the birth chart, the two could be used in conjunction to offer a more sophisticated prognostication of the year in question. This was particularly illuminating in the case of <i>revolutio mortis</i>, whereby the revolution for the year of an individual's death could be compared to the birth chart in order to offer an astrological explanation for their demise. This revolution of Stefano Trivulzio for the year of his death (at the age of 21) was published by Girolamo Cardano in his <i>Libelli quinque</i> (1547), accompanied by the associated birth chart with which it was to be compared. Beneath the chart, Cardano records the positions of the planets at the moment of death.</p>