Astronomical Images : Personification of Mars

Johann Engel

Astronomical Images

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Johann Engel or Angelus (1453?-1512) was a student at the University of Vienna and is said to have studied at some time under Regiomontanus. As well as spending time in Italy, he subsequently practised medicine and astrology at Augsburg, where his first book, <i>Astrolabium planum</i>, was published in 1488. The fact that a book, whose title seems to promise a work on the planispheric astrolabe, concerns astrology and has no account of instrumentation indicates a contemporary association of the astrolabe with the astrologer. Indeed, given an appropriate set of latitude plates, an astrolabe could yield much of the technical astronomical information this book supplies for practising the astrologer's art, as contained in the astrological tables at the beginning of the book and in its concluding table of unequal hours through the year for all the 'climes' or traditional latitude zones. Engel's guide to astrological practice explains at length the significance of each planet and each sign of the zodiac. This woodcut of Mars was previously used by the printer, Erhard Ratdolt, in his edition of G. Julius Hyginus' <i>Poetica astronomica</i> (1482). Each planet was shown on a chariot in this edition, with a zodiac sign marked on a wheel. Every planet was believed to 'rule' a sign of the zodiac or two. In the case of Mars here, the signs of Aries and Scorpio are shown.</p>