The Villa Farnesina, Time-Telling Conventions and Renaissance Astrological Practice

Author(s): Mary Quinlan-McGrath

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Source: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 58 (1995), pp. 52-71
Published by: The Warburg Institute
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 THE VILLA FARNESINA,
TIME-TELLING CONVENTIONS AND
RENAISSANCE ASTROLOGICAL PRACTICE
Mary Quinlan-McGrath

n 1984 I published an article in this Journal, offering an interpretation of the

astrological imagery painted by Baldassare Peruzzi on the vault of the garden
loggia in Agostino Chigi's Roman villa, now known as the Farnesina.1 Since then
my interpretation has been challenged, but without taking full account of my ar-
guments and their implications.2 Clarification of the most fundamental points of
evidence from that argument, and additional information concerning the practices
common to Italian Renaissance astrologers, particularly their habits of timekeeping,
may be helpful to those interested in this fresco cycle.
The Farnesina vault has twenty-six compartments which are set into three sep-
arate areas of the architecture (Figs 25, 26)3. The ten spandrels are decorated with
hexagonal panels, all with blue backgrounds (Fig. 28), displaying the twelve zo-
diacal constellations in standard sequence (the number ten necessitating two pair-
ings of signs). With the constellations are found mythological figures representing
the seven planets, thus indicating the zodiacal locations of those planets which
occurred on an historical date. Set between the ten spandrels are fourteen penden-
tives which recede more horizontally in the vault (Fig. 27). They are frescoed with
fourteen extra-zodiacal constellations, each against a gold 'mosaic' ground. Loom-
ing over the whole, in the centre of the ceiling, are two large rectangular panels
painted with two additional extra-zodiacal constellations. Like the ten hexagons,
these two central panels also have blue grounds (Figs 29, 30).
While it is now agreed among scholars that the configuration of planets and
constellations in the hexagons reflects the birth date of Agostino Chigi, 29 Novem-
ber 1466, the identification of a few of the vault figures is still uncertain.4 In particu-
lar, debate has surrounded the two central panels with extra-zodiacal star groups

1 I would like to thank the Journal editors for this

opportunity to clarify certain issues. For the original
article see M. Quinlan-McGrath, 'The Astrological Vault
of the Villa Farnesina: Agostino Chigi's Rising Sign', this
Journal, xlvii, 1984, pp. 91-105.
2 K. Lippincott, 'Two Astrological Ceilings Recon-
sidered: The Sala di Galateain the Villa Farnesina and
the Sala del Mappamondo at Caprarola', this Journal, liii,
1990, pp. 185-96. For example, Lippincott did not ap-
preciate that I had proposed that two horoscopes, one
of birth and the other of conception, were interrelated
in this cycle. Thus in her critique, pp. 191-2, she fused
the two.
3For details on the architecture and for the identifi-
cation of the planets see Quinlan-McGrath (as in n. 1),
pp. 92-5, 97-8.
4 The views of different scholars and their agreement
concerning most of the identifications can be seen by
comparing the diagrams of F. Saxl, La fede astrologicadi
Agostino Chigi, Rome 1934, pl. 1; Quinlan-McGrath (as
in n. 1), pl. 18; Lippincott (as in n. 2), pl. 13; and
P. Schiller, 'Die himmelskundliche Ikonographie der
Decke der Sala di Galatea in der Villa Farnesina in
Rom', Die okkulten Wissenschaften in der Renaissance, ed.
A. Buck, Wiesbaden 1992, p. 283 (an article which re-
caps his public lecture of 1988 in Wolfenbiuttel). Com-
mon variant names for the same constellations include
Eridanus/River, Swan/Bird, Pegasus/Horse and Great
Dog/Dog. Minor differences concern the figures in
the pendentives. Schiller and Lippincott both think
the Swan/Bird contains a reference to Chigi's Lot of
Fortune; see n. 59 below for the problem with their
computation. I think the reference is simply to 'For-
tuna', another identification for 'Virgo' found in
Hyginus, Poetica astronomica,ii, 'Virgo', and also in the
Scriptores astronomici veteres, Venice 1499, 'Virgo', fol.
Gviiir. See pp. 66-9 below for more on the importance
of Virgo in the pendentives.

53
Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Volume 58, 1995
52 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH

Oil
Aft,
Aj
SA,til .

ins,

:............
...........................
...........................
...........................

Vsib", AZT',

lRy

SIT

Fig. 25-Rome, Villa Farnesina, view of the garden loggia ceiling

54 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH

oo
~~~ Q
p
.
t.6,

ZFAME
PeP,5EUS,
MEUA -
tYNOSURA
/URS^
M(NCA

Fig. 26-Diagram of the Villa Farnesina garden loggia ceiling. Reproduced from F. Saxl,
Lafede astrologicadi AgostinoChigi,Rome 1934, with amendments to the names

(Figs 29, 30). One is now agreed to represent Perseus. The other may show either
Cynosura (Ursa Minor) or Helice (Ursa Major), driving the Chariot or Wain.5 In
1984 I suggested that these panels must have had an important function within a
horoscope, and concluded that they defined the meridian over Siena at the hour of
Chigi's birth, an hour that would have fallen between approximately 21.20 and
23.00 hours after midnight on his birthdate, when the broad constellation of Per-
seus was passing over the meridian. This conclusion seemed to be confirmed by
Ingrid Rowland's independent discovery of the date and time of Chigi's birth in the
Sienese baptistry register.6 There Agostino's father Mariano wrote that his son was
'baptised on 30 November 1466 and born 29 November 1466 at 211/ hours' ('Agos-
tino Andrea di Mariano Chigi si batezo a di 30 di novembre 1466 e naque a di 29
di deto messe a ore 21/2 e fu conpare Giovani Salvani'). I noted in 1984 that there
were a variety of ways in which the phrase 'ore 211/2'might be interpreted, depend-
ing on whether the start of the twenty-four-hour day was assumed to be midnight,
sunrise, noon or sunset.7 Because the constellations of Perseus and Ursa Minor were
spread over the Sienese meridian on 29 November 1466, at 211/2 hours after mid-
night (9.30 p.m.), I concluded that the midnight convention had been used for the
document time. Furthermore, Perseus's important star Algol, the 'Head of Medusa',
which Peruzzi seems to have emphasised (Fig. 29), was situated on the meridian just
below the zenith at about that time.8 This would mean that Chigi's ascendant of

5 Relying solely on the fresco it is impossible to tell
which nymph was painted. Renaissance texts and in-
struments often treat these two together. However my
interpretation of the astronomy leads me to believe that
it was Cynosura (Ursa Minor) which Peruzzi intended:
see p. 63 below.
6 I. Rowland, 'The Birth Date of Agostino Chigi:
Documentary Proof', this Journal, xlvii, 1984, pp. 192-3
and pl. 23a. The document is Siena, Archivio di Stato,
Pieve di San Giovanni 2, fol. 6r. For the astronomical
positions and times see also Quinlan-McGrath (as in n.
1), p. 99 and esp. n. 43.
7 Quinlan-McGrath (as in n. 1), p. 100, esp. n. 48.
8 Ibid.,
p. 99 and n. 43. Using the Alphonsine star
catalogue, precessed with the Alphonsine irregular pre-
cession to 1466, Algol was found to be about half a
degree before the meridian at 21.30 hours on the night
of Chigi's birth, and crossed the meridian at approxi-
mately 21.32 hours. Some slight variations are to be
expected between different Renaissance stellar tables,
 VILLA FARNESINA 55

Fig. 27-Ceiling panel: the Dog

t? AP

Z-w
.lmra=

MA AR m 'k
Jk

Av.
qF
?Nl
','Vat

Fig. 28-Ceiling panel: the Moon with Virgo

 56 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH

.77

Fig. 29-Ceiling panel: PerseusdecapitatingMedusa,with Famefloating above

birth was twenty degrees Leo, a point which seems to be supported by a passage on
the Farnesina's foundation date in one of the villa poems of 1511.9
My interpretation was contested on the grounds that in Italy at this period the
beginning of the day was calculated from sunset. 'Twenty-one and a half hours' after
sunset in late November would thus set the time of Agostino Chigi's birth around
2.30-3.00 p.m. This view has been accepted in the recent literature, although it
leaves the two central panels with no apparent significance, and they have been de-
scribed as 'extremely vague' in meaning.10 Changing the birth time by many hours
also alters the interpretation of the rest of the vault iconography, as will be noted
below.
Since the question of the hour of Chigi's birth has such crucial implications for
our understanding of the ceiling, it seems important to address at some length the
question of time-keeping in Renaissance Italy. It was, of course, a frequent practice
to start the day from sundown, and this method was used for most situations in
everyday life. But for legal and religious matters as well as for astrological and astro-
nomical calculations, a number of alternate systems were employed. Considering
these customs, I will suggest that a calculation from midnight is the most likely
interpretation of the entry '211/2hours' made by Chigi's father, Mariano. Adding as-
tronomical information to custom, I will conclude that a midnight commencement

and we do not know which ones were consulted by 9

Chigi's astronomers; while Renaissance instruments, if
they were used, could vary by 5 degrees or more (see
J. D. North, Horoscopesand History,London 1986, p. 56).
Modern computer programmes give values for Algol
that differ by a degree or two from the Alphonsine
figure. It would be nice to know the exact calculations
made by this vault's adviser on Algol's position, but bar-
ring the recovery of the astronomer's notes this will
elude us. Yet we can say that there is only so much nu-
merical information that can be conveyed in a painting
of this kind. Even a two degree variation does not affect
the argument on the meaning of the frescoes. Cf. also
pp. 63-4 and n. 51.
Quinlan-McGrath (as in n. 1), pp. 100-2, for Leo
at birth. See eadem, 'A Proposal for the Foundation
Date of the Villa Farnesina', this Journal, xlix, 1986, pp.
245-50. The foundation date and time also seem to
have been astrologically determined, and the foun-
dation time also had 20 degrees Leo horoscoping.
10 Lippincott (as in n. 2), p. 195. See also K. Weil-
Garris Brandt's unpublished paper cited by Lippincott
in her n. 40, and Brandt's 'Cosmological Patterns in
Raphael's Chigi Chapel in S. Maria del Popolo', Raffaello
a Roma. Il convegno del 1983, Rome 1986, p. 132; J.
Cox-Rearick, Dynasty and Destinyin MediciArt: Pontormo,
Leo X, and the Two Cosimos,Princeton 1984, pp. 192-4;
Schiller (as in n. 4), pp. 263-4.
 VILLA FARNESINA 57

. ....

7k

Fig. 30-Ceiling panel: Cynosuradrivingthe Chariot/Wain

seems the only possible interpretation. Then I will turn briefly to the question of
the meaning of the remaining vault decoration.

TIME-TELLING CONVENTIONS

The influential fifteenth-century astronomer and astrologer Johannes Mfiller, or

Regiomontanus, who died in Rome in 1476-and whose work was certainly known
to Agostino Chigi's personal secretary, the mathematician and humanist Cornelius
Benignus-indicated the four principal starting-points of the day in his Calendario,
which went through no less than fifteen editions before 1500.11 Regiomontanus
noted that for astronomers and astrologers, time was counted either from noon or
midnight. He explained the customary practices of starting the day at sunrise or
sunset, and gave examples of how to convert between the four systems using simple
addition or subtraction. A manipulative diagram for converting between the system
of equal hours, and the older system of telling time in unequal hours, was also pro-
vided.12 Other contemporary astronomers or astrologers described these conven-
tions as well, again providing conversion charts.13
The starting-point for the day was also discussed by medieval and Renaissance
jurists, notaries, canon lawyers and other clerics. They wrote on the four primary
points, but for most of their own purposes midnight marked the beginning of the
hours.14These legal studies were widely known. Not only did the primary texts have

11 Regiomontanus, Calendario, Venice 1476, 'De le
hore temporale': '...havemo referito ogni computo de
lhore al meridiano: cioe havemo fatto el principio de la
computatione: o vero dal meco di: o vero da la mega
notte'. Regiomontanus lectured in Italy and travelled in
the entourage of Cardinal Bessarion c. 1460-5. Alberti,
Cusanus, Toscanelli, Bianchini and others exchanged
ideas and information with him. (For Cornelius Benig-
nus see below, p. 70.) He was particularly devoted to the
spread of scientific knowledge through an ambitious
printing agenda. G. Sarton, 'The Scientific Literature
Transmitted through the Incunabula', Osiris, v, 1938,
pp. 183, 186, 190, classed his book on the calendar a
'best seller'. At least one of the incunable editions had
over 1000 copies.
12 There were also variant customs of counting dawn
and dusk, in preference to sunrise and sunset.
13 See e.g. J.
Angelus, Astrolabiumplanum, Venice 1502
(earlier edns 1488, 1494), iv; J. Stoeffler, Calendarium
romanum,Oppenheim 1518, Propositio 30.
14 The legal system recognised two different
'days', of
which one referred only to the hours of sunlight and
need not concern us. For certain legal purposes the
24-hour day could begin at a mutually agreed point
58 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH
an extraordinary circulation, but their influence is also seen in the humbler hand-
books written for notaries.15
Italian systems of civil law were primarily based on Justinian's celebrated Digest.
Its dictate on time-keeping is found in the section 'More romano' (ii.12.8), accord-
ing to which the day begins at midnight and ends in the middle of the next night
('More romano dies a media nocte incipit et sequentis noctis media parte finitur').
This general postulate is complemented by others such as 'Qua aetate' (xxviii.1.5)
and 'Placuit' (xl.1.1), which deal specifically with midnight as the starting-point for
birthdays. These three passages were frequently the subject of commentary and
cross-reference by medieval and Renaissance jurists. 17
The legal tradition may be followed through many Italian experts, among whom
is the important scholar Baldus de Ubaldis (d. 1400), who taught law in Siena, Bol-
ogna, Padua, Perugia and elsewhere. He added commentaries, and pointed out that
a notary was correct to interpret a document according to the twenty-four-hour
natural day starting at midnight, even when the document was written during the
night.'8 The notarial handbooks simply instructed: 'Whatever occurred before mid-
night is to be attributed to the preceding day, whatever occurred after midnight is
part of the next day'.'9
Much of ecclesiastical law was modelled on the Digest. It is therefore not sur-
prising to find that Gregory IX's Decretales recognised the Roman custom of the
twenty-four-hour clock from midnight: 'in accordance with usage and with legal
ordinances, it is the Roman custom for the day to begin at midnight and to end the
following midnight'.20 This tradition for the religious use of the midnight com-
mencement of the day can be followed through many sources, among which are
found Innocent IV's Apparatus super quinque libros Decretalium, Thomas Aquinas's
Summa theologica, and William Durandus's Rationale divinorum officiorum.21 While
Gregory IX had based his decree on ancient Roman law, Durandus noted the theo-
logical justification. Christ was born at midnight, thus midnight was an obvious
point at which to begin the timing of the new era. Because civil and canon law were
interrelated in medieval and Renaissance Italy, one finds the civil commentators
such as Baldus referring to the earlier religious commentators when establishing
the extent of legal precedence for this custom."22
19
other than midnight (e.g. in the timing of a contract), J.J. Canis, De tabellionibus, Padua 1482, fol. 23", 'et si
but this is irrelevant for births. I thank Osvaldo Cavallar esset factum de nocte quicquid esset ante mediam noc-
and John Marino for their interesting discussions of tern tribueretur diei precedenti. et quicquid esset post
the legal system. mediam noctem tribueretur diei sequenti per regulam
15 K. Haebler, The Study of Incunabula, New York 1933, positam in .1. more romano. ff. de feriis'. This book also
pp. 174, 220-2. A tenth of all incunables were legal appeared in a Bolognese edition in the same year.
texts. 20 Gregory IX, Decretales, i.29.24, the Lyons 1605 edi-
16 See Justinian, The Digest, ed. T. Mommsen and P. tion was consulted here. 'secundum consuetudinemn et
Krueger, English tr. ed. A. Watson, 4 vols, Philadelphia constitutiones legitimas more Romano dies a medietate
1985. There were more than a dozen Italian editions noctis incipiat, in medio noctis desinet subsequentis...
before 1500. 21 See Innocent IV, Apparatus super quinque libros Decre-
17 Accursius wrote the 12th-century Glossa ordinaria. talium, Venice 1495, fol. giiiir, for his expansion on
Bartolus of Sassoferrato, whose commentaries on the Gregory's Decretales, i.29.24; Thomas Aquinas, Summa
Digest went through more than 25 editions before 1500, theologica, iii. 80.8; and G. Durandus, Rationale divinorum
was by far the most important of the Italian jurists and officiorum, vii.1, Rome 1477 (unnumbered pages: fol.
the essential authority throughout the late medieval and 256' in the Newberry Library copy). My thanks to Paolo
Renaissance periods. Baldus de Ubaldis (for whom see Cherchi for assistance with canon law texts.
next paragraph) was Bartolus's successor. His commen- 22 For example, Baldus (as in n. 18, fol. 114v) cites
taries were also widely published. All of the jurists agree Innocent IV's expansion of Gregory IX in his civil
on the midnight beginning, and discuss special vari- commentary on 'More Romano'.
ations for criminal and civil disputes.
18 Baldus de Ubaldis, In primam digesti veteris partem
commentaria, Venice 1586, i, fol. 114', and iii-v, fol. 46r.
 VILLA FARNESINA 59
All four of the principal time-keep-
ing conventions in Italy were used and
understood well into the latter half of S
TVN A D I GI SMON0
the sixteenth century, as may be seen in FANTI F RR-APESED"
Franciscus Junctinus's Speculum astrolo-
giae, published in 1573. For astrological
purposes Junctinus listed over five hun-
dred famous birthdays, most from the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, giving
the precise times of birth.23 The sources
for his information were apparently quite
varied, and so are the time conventions
which he reported. In Junctinus's list,
time counted from noon is the most
commonly found, while time counted
from midnight is comfortably in second
place.24 There are also many poetic vari-
ations on dawn, sunset and so forth-
each easily converted into a number of
hours and minutes by astrologers. The
plurality of conventions in use within a
single city can be seen by looking atJunc-
tinus's Florence, for which the sample
of entries is high. There, even within a Fig. 31-Print designed by B. Peruzzi,
single family, consistency in the desig- showinga midnight clock:frontispieceto
nation of hours is not found. Of the ten S. Fanti, Triomphodi Fortuna,Venice 1527
famous recorded births of the Medici,
four were timed from noon, four from midnight, one at sunrise and one at sunset.25
The evidence from Renaissance instruments also testifies to the variety of con-
ventions in use. Most Italian city clocks of this period were set for a beginning of
the twenty-four hours at sunset. The face on these clocks was usually adjustable to
match the shifting time of sundown, and the first hour marker corresponded to the
position of sunset found on an astrolabe.26Yet it is interesting that an astrological
print, the design for which was apparently made by Baldassare Peruzzi, the artist of
the Farnesina vault, shows a large city clock whose hours begin at the midnight pos-
ition (Fig. 31).27 It is also not unusual to find clocks with concentric dials, so that
the time from noon and midnight could be read simultaneously with the time from
sunset. Sundials and astrolabes are also found with multiple systems on them.28
Thus when a historian is faced with a document giving a time whose hours are
not specifically designated as 'after midday', 'before sunrise', and so forth, the con-
text needs to be considered before any conclusions are drawn.
23 F. Junctinus, Speculum astrologiae,Lyons 1573, fols 27 S. Fanti, Triomphodi Fortuna, Venice 1527, frontis-
289v-306v. piece. For the attribution to Peruzzi see C. Frommel,
24 Noon was the most common standard for astron- Peruzzi als Maler und Zeichner,Vienna 1967, p. 137.
omers: see O. Neugebauer, A History of Ancient Math- Clocks were based on astrolabe dials and midnight is
ematicalAstronomy,3 vols, New York 1975, iii, pp. 1067- the position at the lowest point of the dial: see Horsk?
9. However, custom could vary by city or region. (as in n. 26). The numbering on the clock in the print
25 Junctinus (as in n. 23), fols 291v, 293r-5r, 296v, begins at this point.
297v, 299r, 302v, 305v. 28 F. A. B. Ward, A CatalogueofEuropeanScientificInstru-
26 Z. Horsk5, 'Astronomy and the Art of mentsin theDepartmentof Medievaland LaterAntiquitiesof
Clockmaking
in the Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries', theBritishMuseum,London 1981, pp. 22, 114-15.
Vistasin Astronomy,ix, 1967, pp. 25-34, esp. 28.
60 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH
THE CHIGI DOCUMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF SIENESE MEDICINEAND LAW
It seems to have been assumed by recent scholars that Agostino's father Mariano
Chigi would have followed the sunset convention, and that he would not have fol-
lowed the practice of an astrologer or a notary. Thus it was concluded by Kristen
Lippincott that his computation 'would have been made in accordance with local
Sienese tradition and the "ore 211/2"would have been calculated from sunset on the
previous day'.29 But Mariano Chigi was not an average citizen, nor is the entry in
the baptismal register an ordinary one. For several reasons it is very unlikely that he
would have used the convention of sunset here, and it is probable that the entry in
the baptismal register reflects astrological concern on his part.
First one should consider carefully the rarity of time notations in the baptismal
records of Siena. Although fathers were individually responsible for entering the in-
formation about their own children, we find that they normally wrote only the date
of baptism; much less frequently they added the date of birth. In only a few cases
was a specific time recorded, and it is altogether exceptional to find the portion of
the hour given. An examination recently undertaken by Nicholas Mann, of almost a
thousand entries for the years 1460-70 in Siena, revealed only two additional cases
in which the time of birth was recorded.30 The majority of entries give only name,
date of baptism and godparents. Of the sample studied, twenty-one entries provide
the date of birth, sometimes instead of that of baptism, which was thus presumably
on the same day. Two of these twenty-one also give the hour of birth. One refers to
a boy born 'ad hora xiii' and baptised the same day (Monday, 28 December 1461),
'a hore xxii'; the other concerns a boy born 'a ore 6' on 11 May 1462 and baptised
'adi dodici del detto'.31
Recording a time of birth in a very exact manner implies that a horoscope was
contemplated, or had already been drawn up. Medical and astrological practice
were interrelated at this time, and the Sienese medical school curriculum included
the usual astrological component. The medical study of celestial influences was im-
portant for the practice of obstetrics, where it was held that the planets played a
critical role in the formation of the foetus and the new-born child. It was widely
believed that the doctor who was unaware of planetary influences risked killing his
patient.32 The famous Sienese physician and astrologer Luca Bellanti, both a con-
temporary of Mariano Chigi and an active member of the same Sienese political
party, recommended that a doctor/astrologer be present at a birth, and he wrote at
some length on the best way for the doctor to time the event.13 He claimed that he
had himself made an astrolabe of extraordinary size and precision for the purpose
29 Lippincott (as in n. 2), p. 193. pp. 236-8, 248-53. The practice of astrological medi-
30 Siena, Archivio di Stato, Pieve di San Giovanni, 1, fols cine was widespread in medieval and Renaissance
17r (1461) and 44r (1462). I am grateful to Professor Europe, and the thinking, based on Aristotle, Galen,
Mann for this information. Hippocrates and Ptolemy, is typically summed up by
31 There is also the case of Chigi's cousin Niccol6, Duns Scotus on the killing of patients. The primary
noted by Rowland (as in n. 6), p. 193. Niccol6's birth is concern was that medicines and treatments would be
recorded as having occurred at 'hora viiiio di notte'. administered under the wrong signs and planetary
The addition of 'di notte' does not occur in the births configurations for a particular individual (Thorndike,
examined by Professor Mann and in this case it prob- ibid., iii, p. 5). Averroes and the extremely popular Ps-
ably indicates the sunset convention. Albertus Magnus (whose Secreta Mulierum went through
32 For the long history of medicine's connection with 55 editions in the first 30 years of printing) are ex-
astrology see L. Thorndike, A History of Magic and Ex- amples of the continuity of this belief on the import-
perimental Science, 8 vols, New York 1923-58, esp. i, pp. ance of the heavens for conception and birth. Hugo of
178, 738; ii, pp. 6, 72, 92, 323-4, 498-9, 573, 670-1, Siena, Domenico Novara and others wrote on it as well;
767, 851, 855-6, 871-2, 890, 893-5, 957; iii, esp. chaps see also Quinlan-McGrath (as in n. 1), pp. 101-2.
12-16; and iv, esp. chap. 44. For this issue in Siena see 33 L. Bellanti, De astrologica veritate, Venice 1502, fols
A. Garosi, Siena nella storia della medicina, Florence 1958,
k.vir-l.iir.
 VILLA FARNESINA 61
of determining times of birth with par-
ticular exactitude. The great astronomer
Regiomontanus recommended his sim-
plified planetary tables as a form of as-
sistance to medical practitioners at nativ-
ities.34 A wonderful illustration from a
sixteenth-century medical textbook also
suggests the recommended presence of
the doctor/astrologer at childbirth (Fig.
32).5 While the midwife and friends
assist the labouring mother, the learned
doctors in the background busy them-
selves with the critical intellectual efforts
of the moment, observing the sky and
enthusiastically discussing the import of
the moon's position in relation to the
birth. (It is particularly interesting that
the moon is shown in this print. Luna, as
we shall see, was the determinant of the
new-born baby's conception horoscope, Fig. 32-Birth scene fromJ. Rueff,De
which may be relevant to the fourteen conceptuet generatione,1587, with astrologers
pendentives of the Farnesina vault.) studyingthe position of the moon
Returning to legal custom, the bap-
tismal register would have had both ecclesiastical and civil status as a legal docu-
ment, and as far as the law was concerned one's birthday began at midnight. As a
banker, Mariano Chigi could not have been ignorant of legal customs. Firstly,bank-
ing ledgers were carefully dated and often used in legal disputes. Secondly, bankers,
notaries and even merchants had legal conventions for dating their records and
documents, and unless otherwise specified, the legal date began at midnight.36
Therefore, when one considers civil and canon law, church tradition on the birth of
Christ, and the conventions of astronomical and astrological timing, it is most likely
that in an official record of this sort Mariano Chigi would have been using the
midnight form, not sunset, when he inscribed the important details of his son's
birth. The specific indication of the time suggests either that it had been deter-
mined by someone with astrological competence, or that it was recorded with as
much precision as possible so that an astrologer could plot a chart from it.37

THE CENTRAL PANELS OF THE VAULT AND THE HOUR LINE

As all students of this vault agree, the hexagons of the ten spandrels give planetary
positions. But planetary positions alone are relatively crude indicators of time,
usually satisfactory only for establishing the date of an event. The fixed stars, how-
ever, can specify the exact hour and minutes. Since the earth completes its daily
34Regiomontanus, Ephemerides, Venice 1481, introduc- Sassoferrato, In primam Digesti veteris partem, Venice 1580,
tory directions. i, fols 73r-8v; and Baldus de Ubaldis (as in n. 18), i, fols
35 J. Rueff, De conceptu et generatione hominis, Frankfurt 118v-22r.
1587, p. 3. Thanks to Jean Gottlieb who brought this to 37 Cf. Quinlan-McGrath (as in n. 1), pp. 101-3. The
my attention, and to the Newberry Library, Chicago, for medical practitioners envisioned by Regiomontanus
permission to publish the illustration. (see text and n. 34 above) were clearly not sophisticated
36 Justinian, Digest, i.5.8 (the date on public records), mathematicians or astronomers. It is my feeling that a
and ii.13.4, 6, 8-11 (the obligation of bankers). See notation of '211/2 hours' reflects a practitioner of this
the commentaries on these passages by Bartolus of fairly common level.
62 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH
revolution every twenty-four hours, a different zodiacal constellation is ascending
on the eastern horizon roughly every two hours. The times of all these ascensions
had been known by calendar date and time of day since antiquity. Even more pre-
cise for learning the hour and minutes, the brightest stars both within and outside
the zodiacal belt had well-known times for arriving at all the points along their
yearly paths. The astrolabe was a wonderful instrument for determining and passing
on this information, and a well-made example in the hands of a reasonably com-
petent astrologer was accurate to four minutes of our clock time.38 Bellanti boldly
promised precision within seconds.39 The nocturnal also served for night-time
use.40 When cloud-cover interfered with actual sightings, the positions of the stars
for a given clock time were found through charts.41 Astronomers and astrologers
were familiar with these means of determining time. But it is clear that they were
not alone in possessing this knowledge. Italian poets were adept at using the same
methods, and Peruzzi was one of the artists known for his astrological and math-
ematical studies.42
It was Fritz Saxl who first proposed that the hour of Chigi's birth in the Farne-
sina vault was marked by the two long ceiling panels, showing the constellations on
the meridian at that time.43 This was a logical hypothesis for several reasons. First,
one cannot have a horoscope without a time of birth. Second, the meridian had
long been the essential time marker of the heavens. Third, the meridian marked
the north-south line directly overhead in the observer's sky. A painter, seeking to
indicate a time, could hardly have found a more practical way of suggesting the
meridian than by using the north-south line of the vault overhead.
But Saxl confused this simple argument by including on his hypothetical merid-
ian two additional constellations, Leo and Aquarius, from the separate cycle found
in the hexagons around the ceiling. As a result he produced a zig-zag 'meridian',
joining four points (actually four large constellations) of the sky. In fact zodiacal
constellations are not used to define points on the meridian. Furthermore, when
Perseus did not fall on his proposed path, Saxl reinterpreted the Perseus panel (Fig.
29) as 'Pegasus'. But the panel cannot be thought of as an image of Pegasus. The
painting shows Perseus on the point of decapitating Medusa. Indeed Vasari, describ-
ing this room, remembered it as a decoration devoted to Medusa.44The small head
of a horse in the bottom right-hand corner probably represents Pegasus, but since
the winged horse was born of the blood of Medusa, its existence in the fresco is
no more remarkable than that of the stony figures. Mythographers further associ-
ated the birth of Pegasus from the blood of Medusa with the image of Fame. That
Peruzzi has painted Fame floating above Pegasus probably serves to underscore

38 North (as in n. 8), p. 56, indicates that
very large
astrolabes may have been accurate to 10' of arc. I thank
Roderick and Marjorie Webster for their wonderful
instructions on the astrolabe. This instrument provided
the simplest means of knowing the time from the
positions of the stars. Catalogues of stars are also a
common item in astronomical and astrological texts of
the period.
39 Bellanti (as in n. 33), fol. Liv.
40 For examples see Ward (as in n.
28), pp. 57, 75.
41 Clock time was known to be inaccurate. It
was, how-
ever, 'perfected' via several different mathematical/
astrological methods discussed by astrologers; see Bel-
lanti (as in n. 33), fol. Ir, for a typical summary. These
discussions derive from Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos,iii.2.
42 See B. Soldati, La poesia astrologica nel
quattrocento,
Florence 1906, for several Italian poets, most notably
Pontano. G. Vasari, Le vite de' piit eccellenti pittori, scultori
ed architettori, ed. G. Milanesi, Florence 1878-85, iv, p.
604, records Peruzzi's studies.
43 Saxl (as in n. 4),
pp. 30, 66-7 and n. 1.
44 Vasari
(as in n. 42), ixv,pp. 593-4: '...vi si vede una
loggia in sul giardino dipinta da Baldessare con le storie
di Medusa, quando ella converte gli uomini in sasso,
che non pu6 immaginarsi piii bella: ed appresso, quan-
do Perseo le taglia la testa; con molte altre storie ne'
peducci di quella volta...
 VILLA FARNESINA 63

this connection of Medusa with Fame.45

Pegasus, sometimes known as the 'Equus
Gorgoneus',46 is thus neither the main
nor the covert subject of the fresco.
While Saxl acknowledged the possi-
bility of either Helice or Cynosura for
the northern panel, and admitted that
he knew of no reason for the choice of
this constellation, he concluded that it Huio
90o z s
9* ,' .cus

must represent Helice/Ursa Major, be-

cause it was the 'best known' constel- It 1 0cA

lation in the northern sky.47 This is a

questionable claim.
I would propose, rather, a very spe- imoctl
cific reason for these two constellation a

<0
%e , CA 9

choices, which I believe represent Ursa

Minor and Perseus, and probably specifi-
cally their two stars Polaris and Algol. Fig. 33-Astrolabe plate showing the two
Astronomically the meridian has always points-the north celestial pole at the
been defined by two points in the sky: centre, the zenith above it-by which the
meridian line is defined (drawing by
the north celestial pole and the zenith. W. W. Skeat, for a 19th-century edition of
The markings on an astrolabe graphi- Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe)
cally illustrate this definition (Fig. 33).
The north celestial pole is the centre point of the instrument. The zenith is the
point immediately to its south, and is prominent as the radiating point for the lines
of azimuth (great circles passing through the zenith and nadir points), and the
centre of the rings of almucantar (altitude circles). The meridian is the vertical line
drawn through the two. Throughout the day and night the stars can be envisaged as
wheeling around the fixed centre of the north celestial pole, and their times can be
read as they cross the meridian.4 The two central panels of the Farnesina ceiling
readily suggest a parallel with a Renaissance astrolabe, and specifically with the defi-
nition of the meridian. In Chigi's vault the constellation which marked the north
celestial pole (Ursa Minor) takes up the northern half of the vault; the constellation
that was spread over the zenith point itself, at 211/2hours after midnight on 29
November 1466 (Perseus), takes up the southern half (see Fig. 26).49 The head of
Medusa (Caput Gorgonis or Algol) was one of Perseus's brightest stars and was
marked on astrolabes. It can be seen, for example, on the reteof the astrolabe made
by Regiomontanus for Cardinal Bessarion in 1462.50According to Alphonsine tables
available in the Renaissance, Algol was approximately two minutes of time before
the meridian, at 211/ hours after midnight on the date of Chigi's birth; it was also

45 R. Forster, Farnesina-Studien: Ein
Beitrag zur Frage
nach demn Verhdiltnis der Renaissance zur Antike, Rostock
1880, p. 40 and nn. 110-12.
46 For
Pegasus as the 'Equus Gorgoneus' see Merca-
tor's star map of 1551, Les spheres terrestre et cdleste de
Girard Mercator 1541 et 1551, Brussels 1968 (reproduc-
tion of the 1551 original in Louvain).
47 Saxl
(as in n. 4), pp. 30-2, esp. 31: 'Non sono ri-
uscito a scoprire un argomento specifico per la scelta
del carro. I1 carro & appunto l'astro piu noto nel centro
del cielo...'
48 The north celestial pole is not really fixed, due to
precession. But for all practical purposes it was treated
as such, since the shift is imperceptible to the eye.
49 See Quinlan-McGrath (as in n. 1), 99 and n. 43.
p.
5o D. Price, 'The First Scientific Instrument of the Re-
naissance', Physis,i, 1959, pp. 26-30. The reteis the map
of stars that pivots around the centre point of the instru-
ment at the north celestial pole, and passes over the
plates engraved with the coordinates of the celestial
sphere (altitude and azimuth lines, zenith point, hor-
izon etc.).
64 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH
the closest star to the zenith, being only about three degrees below it. Only a few of
the bright stars indicated on an astrolabe's rete ever come near the zenith. To the
naked eye, which is barely capable of distinguishing two or three degrees of devi-
ation, Algol would have appeared to mark the zenith itself. 51We will probably never
be able to say with certainty whether Peruzzi intended us to understand the broad
constellation of Perseus or its single star Algol in this southern vault painting. How-
ever the coincidence of the stellar position of Algol with the time in the baptistry
document certainly makes the Head of Medusa very likely. The depiction itself
favours Algol. It focuses attention on Medusa's head, while Pegasus, Fame and the
figures turned to stone all primarily refer to the Gorgon. Similarly one cannot say
with certainty whether Peruzzi indicated the nymph Helice or Cynosura. But astro-
nomically the Pole Star itself, also called Cynosura, must have been intended.52
The emphasis which I placed on stars on the meridian (the medium coeli of an
astrological chart) has been viewed sceptically by Lippincott, who wrote, 'Were a
man to remember anything about his natal chart, it would not be the extra-zodiacal
constellation located at his medium coeli'.53 But the sighting of the star at the medium
coeli at the birth of a child was an important part of Renaissance astrological prac-
tice. Here the Sienese Luca Bellanti can again serve as our guide. Eager to refute
Pico della Mirandola's critique on the imprecision of birth measurements, and to
explain the most accurate procedure for time-reckoning at a nativity, Bellanti de-
voted several pages to the issues of establishing the times of both birth and concep-
tion for a new-born child. After recommending the presence of an astrologer with
an exceptional astrolabe at the birth, he pointed out that the meticulous astrologer
avoids sighting the time from stars near the horizon, where atmospheric conditions
would lead to distortions in the reading. Instead the time reckoning should be
taken from the stars at the medium coeli, or as near to it as possible.54 Bellanti's works
were well known in Italy and were presumably consulted by Sienese contemporaries
such as Peruzzi and Chigi, both devoted to this science.
For several reasons then, it seems likely that the time in the baptismal register
was arrived at professionally. An astrologer could have sighted the star on the merid-
ian at the birth, or, if the skies were cloudy, he would have noted the approximate
time from the town clock and then arrived at a more precise measurement by
mathematically refining it through one of several astrological methods.55 Of course,
the vault cycle need not have depended on a horoscopic chart done at the birth.
Peruzzi would only have needed the date and time of nativity.56 He could then have
drawn up the planetary and stellar positions from any number of available astro-
nomical tables. But whether he was handed a horoscopic chart or merely a time and
date, it was his genius as a designer, as well as the contemporary viewer's familiarity

51 I thank Noel Swerdlow and Bruce Stephenson Bellanti

for
discussing and checking the astronomical issues. Cf. n.
8; we cannot know how exact the '211/2 hours' was
intended to be, or by what means it was calculated,
although we can be reasonably certain that it was to
serve for a horoscopic chart. See n. 41 above. The fact
that the numbers could be refined later, or 'rectified',
was distinctly to the astrologer's advantage when prog-
nostications were required.
52 See Junctinus (as in n. 23), fol. 260': 'stella polars
Cinosura'.
53 See Lippincott (as in n. 2), p. 192.
54 Bellanti (as in n. 33), fols
1.iV-l.iir. 'Respondetur
altitudinem debere summi a stellis in medio caelo vel
prope (quantum fieri potest) existentibus'.
identified the medium coeli with the meridian, as was
common for astrologers of that era. The verb 'sumere
is alternately spelled with one 'm' or two throughout his
text. Cf. Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, iii.10.128, for an astrologi-
cal interpretation of problems with the horizon.
55 See n. 41 above.
56 Junctinus's
sample of around 500 of the most
famous Italian births, with dates and times, makes it
clear that aspirant parents kept such records. (See
above, p. 59 and n. 23.)
 VILLA FARNESINA 65
with visual conventions for the planets and stars, that allowed him to record precise
chronological information simply by arranging and painting pictures.
THE PENDENTIVES WITH THE FOURTEEN EXTRA-ZODIACAL CONSTELLATIONS
In my 1984 study I suggested that the fourteen pendentives or velewere intended to
allude to a second type of horoscope, also popular in the Renaissance, which was
astrologically connected to the first. This second horoscope marked the 'first begin-
ning' of the child on earth, or the supposed hour of its conception.57 It has been
argued instead that the fourteen extra-zodiacal constellations were selected from
celestial maps to represent a rough image of the heavens for the time of approxi-
mately 2.30 p.m. on 29 November 1466, again calculating the start of the hours
from the sunset convention.58 According to this hypothesis, the selected constel-
lations were then oriented to the compass points of Chigi's loggia, with Taurus,
the assumed ascendant, and a figure interpreted as the Lot of Fortune (the image
of the constellation Bird/Cygnus),59 being taken as the points of east-south orien-
tation for the sky and the room.60 But there are several problems with the theory.
The two most important are the lack of a unified explanation for a choice of these
fourteen out of the possible thirty-six extra-zodiacals, and once selected, the lack of
any genuine correlation between their celestial positions and the vault frescoes.61 A
comparison of an actual Renaissance star map (Fig. 34) with the fresco cycle reveals
57 Quinlan-McGrath (as in n. 1),
pp. 94-7, 101-5. substructures. Neither the Farnesina nor Caprarola
Regiomontanus, Bellanti, Pico della Mirandola, Savo- (Lippincott, ibid., considers Caprarola an exception to
narola, Luca Gaurico, Girolamo Cardano and others all her rule) seems to follow such an axiom. The case is
testify to the practice of conception horoscopes. While even more telling in Mantua. Federico Gonzaga's horo-
this is a foreign concept in modern times, it is not sur- scope was published in the Renaissance (L. Gauricus,
prising in the Renaissance given the Christian emphasis TractatusAstrologicus,Venice 1552, p. 44), and his horo-
on the Incarnation. Many Italian cities, such as Siena, scope was frescoed on the vault in his palace. Although
began the year at the Incarnation (conception), while the vault is nearly circular, making a match of vault
others used a dating from the Nativity. A few, like and zodiac a simple matter, the eastern ascendant of
Venice, carefully recorded both; see A. Cappelli, Crono- Gonzaga's chart rises in the southwest of the room. See
logia, Milan 1969, pp. 11-16. K. Lippincott and R. Signorini, 'The Cameradellozodiaco
58 Schiller (as in n. 4), pp. 264, 269-71, 288; Lippin- of Federico II Gonzaga', this Journal, liv, 1991, pp.
cott (as in n. 2), pp. 193-4, pls 13-14. Saxl (as in n. 4), 244-7 and pls 62-5.
61 For the maps and the selection processes see the
pp. 22-7 and pl. 2, offered a slightly different proposal
based on a time of 7.00 p.m., which followed from the references listed in n. 58. For Lippincott the selection
definition of his meridian line by Pegasus. For problems process is the match of sky and vault, once the orien-
with Saxl's selection of the 14 constellations see Quin- tation is established. (Schiller and Saxl, realising the
lan-McGrath (as in n. 1), pp. 95-6 and notes. match was insufficient, added hypotheses that at-
59 Schiller, ibid., p. 270; Lippincott, ibid., p. 194. The tempted to explain why one constellation was chosen
Lot of Fortune is determined from the birth time. If over another.) Lippincott's 'planispheric map' thus
the birth time is '211/2' after midnight, then the Lot of presents a particular problem in that she included only
Fortune is far from their interpretations. It is very likely those constellations which were frescoed. Of the 36
that Peruzzi intended an allusion to Fortuna here (not extra-zodiacals she considered only 14, and avoided the
the Lot of Fortune). Fortuna was another identification conflicting evidence presented by the other 22. But
of Virgo (see further below). See Hyginus (as in n. 4); even if we were to accept this as a method, and one were
or the Scriptores (as in n. 4). to imagine only 14 extra-zodiacals in the heavens, her
60 Lippincott, ibid., and Schiller, ibid., are also con- map differs from the vault in many important respects.
cerned with the precise degree of the vault's deviation For example, she shows the Altar between Sagittarius
from true north. Yet as far as I am aware there is no and Capricorn, whereas on the vault it falls between
reason to suppose that the ceiling decoration would Sagittarius and Scorpio. That position is occupied in her
have been painted in accordance with actual geographi- drawing by the Northern Crown, which on the fresco
cal coordinates. Lippincott, op. cit., p. 204, offers no falls between Virgo and Libra. If Peruzzi had been
evidence for her claim that 'Most astrological maps working according to her theory, there would have been
bearing any pretensions to "astronomical accuracy" tend no reason to choose the Lyre, Arrow, Dolphin and
to follow local geographical coordinates'. Saxl (as in n. Swan, all of which fall between the adjacent signs
4), p. 67 n. 1, recognised that the villa did not have a Capricorn and Aquarius on her map, but which the
perfect north-south orientation, a point he considered painter distributed all the way from Sagittarius to Pisces.
'poco importante'. I think the deviation was probably Her map also shows the Dog and Ship between Gemini
necessitated by geological constraints or by antique and Cancer, whereas they are between Leo and Cancer.
66 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH

414

A, lt?6

4,. 1dn

7,r
1 ?.

Fig. 34-P. Apian, sky map. AstronomiconCaesareum,Ingolstadt 1540

that the constellations painted by Peruzzi are distributed about the sky neither
evenly nor in a way coincident with the spacing of the architectural structures of the
vault, no matter how one orients them (Fig. 35). They cluster oddly in the sky. The
fourteen extra-zodiacals of the pendentives are not the constellations closest in the
heavens to the zodiacal signs that are painted next to them, as Saxl had proposed.
Nor, again, as one might logically conjecture, are they the constellations that con-
tained the brightest, or best known stars-those marked, for example, on the retes
of astrolabes. As far as I can see, the correspondence between the paintings of the
vault and the constellations of any Renaissance celestial map is too slight to afford
an explanation for the choice of these particular fourteen out of the thirty-six extra-
zodiacals of the heavens.
There is, however, a parallel between these constellations and two passages in
one important contemporary anthology of astrological sources, the Scriptoresastro-
nomici veterescompiled in 1499 by Aldus Manutius, the great publisher of ancient
Greek and Roman texts in the Renaissance.62The connection concerns the rising of
Virgo, and Virgo also happens to have been the ascendant of Chigi's conception
horoscope. There was a simple rule in Renaissance astrology according to which the
time of conception could be derived from the position of the moon in the birth
horoscope of a child.63 The sign occupied by the moon at the birth was believed to
62 See Quinlan-McGrath
(as in n. 1), n. 31, on the con- 63 The most straightforward formula, given in this
tents. For the Scriptoressee above, n. 4. text, is found in Ps-Ptolemy, Centiloquy,no. 51; for more
 VILLA FARNESINA 67

Ch

Ror
r-,'0

...
......

Fig. 35-Copy of Apian's map (taken from another version of the book), with the
constellations of Chigi's pendentives shown darkened

have been the sign rising at the time of conception, many months before. In the
Farnesina ceiling Luna is located in Virgo. By astrological convention, therefore,
Virgo was Chigi's ascendant at conception. In addition, the symbols of Virgo were
featured elsewhere in the decoration of the villa, notably in the exterior arches of
this loggia's facade.64
Two of the ancient authorities listed in the Scriptores,Aratus and Manilius, had
something to say on Virgo's rising. According to the first, when Virgo rises, the Lyre,
Dolphin, Arrow, Bird, River and Horse are setting, while Hydra, the Crater, the Dog
and the Ship are rising. Manilius, in a separate passage on Virgo's rising, noted that

complicated versions see Quinlan-McGrath (as in n. 1), Chigii Vera libellus. Introduction, Latin Text and English
pp. 101-3. Translation', Humnanistica Lovaniensia, xxxviii, 1989, p.
64 For Virgo references in the villa see ibid., pp. 103-4. 85, 11. 26-7. Astraea was the primary myth for the con-
See also eadem, 'Aegidius Gallus, De Viridario Augustini stellation Virgo.
68 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH
the extra-zodiacal Northern Crown rose with Virgo. Of perhaps additional interest
is the fact that the early editions of Manilius, including that in the Scriptores,stated
that the Crown rose with 15 degrees Virgo. The moon on the night and at the time
of Chigi's birth actually was located between 15 and 16 degrees of Virgo. In the
vault the Crown is frescoed next to the hexagon with the moon in Virgo.65
Here then are eleven specific extra-zodiacal constellations which rise and set
with Virgo. Looking to the vault we find the same eleven (Fig. 26): the Lyre, Arrow,
Dolphin, Bird, Horse, and the River; the Crater, Hydra, Dog, Ship, and Northern
Crown. This is a very unusual selection of extra-zodiacals, and yet Peruzzi used all
eleven constellations mentioned. But he still had three empty pendentives to fill.
Looking to the sky, the Triangle is found between the Horse and the River; in the
vault it is frescoed between those two. The Charioteer is found in the sky between
the River and the Ship; and it is frescoed in the vault between them.66 As one would
expect with 'fillers', these were not given visual prominence in relation to the
original entrance.67 Finally there remained only one empty pendentive, and Peruzzi
centred it directly across from the entrance to the loggia. Here he painted the Altar.
Although, in a general sense, this constellation fits the pattern of selection which I
suggest for the Triangle and Charioteer, its centring in the focal spot across from
the entrance, and the fact that it separates the two groups noted in the texts as
rising and setting constellations, leads me to think it was highlighted for an ad-
ditional reason. It is placed next to the hexagon showing Chigi's sun sign, Sagit-
tarius. It is probably no coincidence that the Altar marked the longitude of the sun
at Chigi's birth.68 The Altar could have been centred solely to underscore this astro-
nomical point, or it could additionally have been understood to have astrological
import in its connection with the sun.69 A separate astrological tradition also stem-
ming from Ptolemy, and followed by Renaissance astrologers, considered the astro-
logical nature of the stars. Perhaps it is then significant that all three constellations
added by Peruzzi (Altar, Triangle and Charioteer) had the astrological nature of
Mercury in this tradition. Since Virgo is both the house of Mercury and Mercury is
exalted in her, since Renaissance illustrations of Virgo frequently showed her hold-
ing the caduceus of Mercury, and since the caduceus is also featured on the exterior
arcades of this loggia, it is possible that Mercury additionally influenced the selec-
tion of these three star groups.70
If Chigi wanted to commemorate Virgo's rising, as was apparently the case also
on the exterior arches of the loggia and in one of the villa poems, it seems to me

65 For the position of the moon see Quinlan-McGrath
(as in n. 1), pp. 94, 102; and Lippincott (as in n. 2), p.
194, n. 44, where she cites Casanovas's computations for
2.30 p.m. By 9.30 p.m. it would have advanced 31/'
degrees, putting it at 151/2 degrees of Virgo. All of the
editio
early editions of Manilius (e.g. Regiomontanus's
princeps, Nuremberg c. 1473; Bonincontri's, Rome 1484;
the Aldine edition, Venice 1499; Mazochius's, Rome
1510; through Scaliger's, Paris 1579), describe at v.251
the Crown rising with 'ter quinque', or 15 degrees of
Virgo. Modern editions usually follow Bentley's emen-
dation (London 1739), which dropped the 'ter', leaving
the degrees at only 'quinque'. I thank Anna Maranini
and Fabio Gobbo for this information.
66 The
Dog and the Ship have their first stars at nearly
identical longitudes. Aratus listed the Dog first. Peruzzi
painted the Ship first. Peruzzi may have relied on star
chart positions where the first star of the Ship, Canopus,
was listed at about half a degree of longitude before the
first star of the Dog. See e.g. Junctinus (as in n. 23), p.
260. Or he may have used star maps like Apian's (Fig.
34), which show the Keel dramatically preceding the
Dog.
67 Quinlan-McGrath (as in n. 1), p. 92.
68 Ibid., p. 99. This would parallel the Northern
Crown's placement next to the hexagon with Virgo and
the moon.
69 There was a tradition of astrological literature on
the importance of the relations of planets and extra-
zodiacal constellations for the new-born child. See
Junctinus (as in n. 23), pp. 237-88.
70 See Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, i.9.26-7. For the relations
of Virgo and Mercury, including illustrations of the
arcades, see Quinlan-McGrath (as in n. 1), p. 104 and
pls 21a, 21c, 22c.
 VILLA FARNESINA 69

that Peruzzi found an excellent way of making that commemoration. He used an

authoritative classical text, and to accommodate the architectural requirements of
fourteen sections, he made a minimal expansion upon the chosen passages.71 The
process did not involve the consultation of a vast number of primary sources, as was
objected recently,72 since the relevant parts of the ancient texts were accessible in
one book, and for the most part in a single passage, in the Phaenomena of Aratus.
The Aratus passage must have been well known, for it is also found in Hyginus's
Poetica astronomica, long recognised as a source for the identification of the Far-
nesina vault's separate constellations.73 A further objection, that these texts were
known in the Renaissance to be astronomically inaccurate,74 is anachronistic. In this
period, those who believed in astrology placed it above astronomy. Witness the fact
that astrologers continued to base their predictions on the mythological character-
istics of the different zodiacal signs, even though they were perfectly aware that, due
to the precession of the equinoxes, these signs were no longer found in the astro-
nomical degrees associated with them. 75As far as astrologers were concerned, logic
was secondary to a deep respect for ancient authority. Badgered by critics such as
Pico della Mirandola on their many illogical premises, they repeatedly fell back on
the rebuttal that history and experience showed that astrology worked. (After all,
Pico died right on schedule, just as his chart foretold.76) Moreover, if Aratus and
Manilius were considered as disreputable sources, it would be hard to explain why
Aldus Manutius should have published them, with a careful inclusion of variant
texts; or why the celebrated Regiomontanus himself published the editio princeps of
Manilius, and the best manuscript of Aratus was in the private collection of Cardinal
Bessarion.77
It is, of course, possible that a single text may exist which gives all fourteen of
the constellations in Peruzzi's vele, or some explanation may be found which better
accounts for this selection of fourteen extra-zodiacals. But until such is discovered,
the Scriptores astronomici veteres of 1499 provides the best rationale for the scheme,
and supports the notion that Virgo was given prominence in the decoration as the
sign rising at Chigi's conception.

71 The order in which Peruzzi painted these 14 con-
stellations is also interesting. Aratus's order follows the
sky in a general sense, but Peruzzi seems to have tidied
that order. Cf. n. 66. See also Hyginus (as in n. 4), iv.12,
who followed Aratus's list but transposed the Arrow and
the Dolphin as Peruzzi did. I thank David Mathers for
examining the variants in Aratus's order in the Greek
texts in E. Maass, Commentariorumin Aratum reliquiae,
Berlin 1958. The known variants do not seem to ac-
count for the minor switches, however. These seem to
have come rather from the sky. Once the 14 had been
selected, they seem to have been placed about the room
in an order of increasing longitudes. For the longitudes
see Junctinus (as in n. 23), fols 260v-63r; and J.
Schoener, Tabulae astronomicae,Nuremburg 1551, fols
108r-26v.
72 See Lippincott (as in n. 2), p. 192, who concluded
that a 'vast array of primary sources' had been con-
sulted.
73 For the individual constellations and their text con-
nections to Hyginus see Forster (as in n. 45), pp. 41-4.
Cf. n. 71 for Hyginus's use of the Aratus passage.
74 Lippincott (as in n. 2), p. 192; Schiller (as in n. 4),
p. 272.
75 Thorndike (as in n. 32), iv, p. 611. Paraphrasing the
relation of science to theology, Thorndike noted that
astronomy was the handmaiden of astrology in the 14th
and 15th centuries. This relative status was the basis for
the standard practice of rectification-if the astronomi-
cal facts did not suit the required astrological outcome,
it was presumed that the facts were wrong.
76 It seems that the subject of Pico's death in 1494 was
initially a sensitive one, due to the high esteem in which
he was held; see Thorndike (as in n. 32), iv, pp. 540-1,
561. Pontano retracted his harsher criticisms and Bel-
lanti excoriated Savonarola for having led Pico astray.
But the suggestion that the fates of Pico and Savonarola
could be seen in their charts is already found in the
1498 edition of Bellanti's reply to Pico, and in detailed
form in Gauricus (as in n. 60), p. 58. See also G. Pico
della Mirandola, Disputationesadversusastrologiamdivina-
tricem,ed. E. Garin, 2 vols, Florence 1946, i, p. 5.
77 See E. Zinner, Regiomontanus:His Life and Work,tr.
E. Brown, Amsterdam 1990, pp. 112-13, 163-8, for
Regiomontanus's library and printing projects. These
included Aratus, Manilius, Hyginus and others. For the
best manuscripts of Aratus see his Phaenomena,ed. G. R.
Mair, Harvard 1921, p. 364.
70 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH

CHIGI'S ASTROLOGICALINTERESTS
It is hard to comprehend today the power of astrology over some of the most highly
educated members of Italian Renaissance society. Perhaps for this reason, a casual
interpretation of these frescoes is in the ascendant, and scepticism has been ex-
pressed on whether astrologers and literati would have been employed to communi-
cate detailed information through this vault.78 But a few facts on Chigi and his
courtiers should be underlined. This was a group steeped in astrology, astronomy
and classical literature.79 The intimate relationship between Agostino Chigi and the
famous Venetian astrologer Francesco Priuli, a practitioner much favoured by Leo
X, is documented by contemporaries. Chigi's personal secretary, Cornelius Benig-
nus, was a noted humanist and mathematician who translated from the Greek not
only writers as challenging as Pindar and Theocritus, but also the works of Ptolemy.
He would certainly have known the work of Regiomontanus, likewise a translator
of Ptolemy, and may even have been personally acquainted with the great astron-
omer in Viterbo.s8 Given that the term 'mathematicus' was often used as a synonym
for 'astrologer' in this period, it is worth noting the number of Chigi's intimates
who had mathematical interests. Another astronomer in his employ was Giorgio
Benigno Salviati. He was one of the mathematicians studying the reform of the
Roman calendar and dedicated one of his treatises on the subject to Agostino. Chigi
also supported the mathematician Juan de Ortega, publishing his textbook in 1515.
Baldassare Peruzzi was known as a student of both astrology and mathematics.
Finally there is Agostino himself. He commissioned not only the Peruzzi cycle but
another cosmological vault for his burial chapel in S. Maria del Popolo. As a soph-
isticated banker whose villa was the meeting place for many distinguished human-
ists and literati, Chigi was familiar with numbers as well as words, and with both
modern and ancient texts, and he surrounded himself with those competent in
astrology.
,

It seems to me that a great deal of thought and effort went into the design of
the subject matter of this vault. It is agreed by all scholars who have concerned
themselves with the scheme that the seven planets in their positions in the twelve
zodiacal signs indicate-in an inventive and ingenious way-the day of Agostino's
birth, 29 November 1466. This is the subject of the hexagons. It would seem sur-
prising, then, if the remainder of the decoration were left imprecise, with the inten-
tion of suggesting only a very loose connection with a map of the sky. It seems only
appropriate to conclude that the two long central panels have an important pur-
pose. They specify the hour line of Chigi's birth, and are visually connected with
the dating information in the hexagons through their deep blue backgrounds.
Together (date and time) these provide the essential information for a horoscope
of nativity. The fourteen extra-zodiacals against gold 'mosaic' are separate. They
seem to indicate the rising sign of his conception. These two horoscopes, of birth
and of conception, were astrologically interrelated in the practice of the era.

78 Lippincott (as in n. 2), pp. 192-3, 195-6. thesis, University of Chicago 1983, i, pp. 44-5, 128-9,
79 Most of the contemporary sources were published 158-9.
by G. Cugnoni, 'Agostino Chigi il Magnifico', Archivio 80 Viterbo was Benignus's home town, and a favourite
della Societi Romana di Storia Patria, ii-iv, 1879-81, and retreat of Cardinal Bessarion's. Several of Regiomon-
vi, 1883, in what is still the essential text on Chigi's life. tanus's letters were written from that location while he
More were added in M. Quinlan McGrath, 'The Villa of was travelling with the Cardinal. See Zinner (as in n.
Agostino Chigi: The Poems and the Paintings', Ph.D. 77), pp. 61, 89.
 VILLA FARNESINA 71
The subject matter of this vault is grounded on a great deal of verifiable astro-
nomical information. But one would really like to know the astrological predictions
that Chigi understood in his heavens. Unfortunately, due to the subjective and
changing nature of astrological forecasts, we will probably never know what these
meant to Agostino in 1511. In a general sense, the figure of Fame must have set the
tone, and comparisons with certain popular Renaissance texts are attractive, bear-
ing as they do on the creation of the villa and on the life of its patron.8 But the
details which Chigi must have felt worthy of record will probably for ever elude us.
Nevertheless, we can admire the way a painter and a patron found ways to com-
municate an extraordinary amount of astronomical information, relying solely on
visual convention and common astronomical and astrological practices.

THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY, CHICAGO

81 Quinlan-McGrath (as in n. 1), pp. 104-5.