Re: The Moon

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Yes, excellent posts. It seems to me that Hurst is wrong when he attributes Clotho to the sun in Plutarch, at least in the essay I quoted; but I didn't check the essay on the genio of Socrates. That was another widely read essay in the 15th-17th centuries, and hence if there, a good source for associating Clotho with the sun--as well as biblical quotes, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. And yes, Macrobius is also very important. I meant to refer to him, as Porphyry's translator gave a long quote from him in his footnotes, about the descent and ascent of the soul through the planetary spheres. Perhaps that reference got lost in my editing.

After writing my piece, I re-read Vitali on the Moon card. Gosh, he says much the same as I said, citing both Porphyry and Plutarch, the main difference being that he was briefer and quoted summaries from Italian secondary sources instead of translations of the originals. Plus he says a lot more. Well worth perusing, at http://www.letarot.it/The-Moon_pag_pg130_eng.aspx.

He even calls the towers "lighthouses." As in Pharos (Greek) and Pharillon (French), SteveM. And Phanes.

Re: The Moon

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SteveM wrote:For sake of completeness one may as well mention as well that along with eve, mary, clotho the image of a woman weaving, spinning et al, was used to represent the 'active life' as distinct from the 'contemplative life' and can be found used to represent such on cathedrals and churchs, however usually also with an image to indicate the 'contemplative' life such as a woman with a book for example, the active life being represented on one side of a porch for example and the contemplative on the other.
For further sake of completeness, Circe, daughter of the Sun, may also be shown with a distaff.

They skirt the coast, where Circe, maiden bright,
The Sun's rich daughter, wakes with melodies
The groves that none may enter. There each night,
As nimbly through the slender warp she plies
The whistling shuttle, through her chambers rise
The flames of odorous cedar.

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However we are missing other identifying emblems of Circe, such as a fire and/or animals (usually caged).

Re: The Moon

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I like a lot this "trioumph" from the Tempio Malatestiano. Waves, the crabe, the buildings in the two sides of the river... :-o

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The Cappella dei Pianeti must be awesome. I'd like to be there some day.
The thief left it behind: the moon at my window. ---- RYOKAN ----

Re: The Moon

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Wonderful image, sembei.

Huck, I take it you're not convinced by Marco's discovery of the decan and the girdle, (top post). Moakley certainly thought the PMB image represented a broken bow, but the process we went through earlier in this thread was a turning point for me (thanks, Marco), and taught me to trust my eyes rather than simply accepting the opinions of others. Interesting discovery though - it would explain the building in the background, and the girdle might well have been painted to be deliberately ambiguous.
He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy...

Re: The Moon

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Pen wrote:Wonderful image, sembei.

Huck, I take it you're not convinced by Marco's discovery of the decan and the girdle, (top post). Moakley certainly thought the PMB image represented a broken bow, but the process we went through earlier in this thread was a turning point for me (thanks, Marco), and taught me to trust my eyes rather than simply accepting the opinions of others. Interesting discovery though - it would explain the building in the background, and the girdle might well have been painted to be deliberately ambiguous.
hi Pen,

I think, I've not much opinion in this matter. I remembered a "broken bow" discussion earlier. But Artemis-Diana is a mixed figure. She is "virgin", as she vowed to be one, and on the other side the "hunting goddess" (cause the crescent remembers the bow) and then she has to do with pregnancy (in some way contradicting her responsibility for virginity). Well, all this might mix with each other. The moon and its different states has some natural tendency towards pregnancy and it's changing states.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: The Moon

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To the Girdle on Visconti-Sforza Moon- I would like to add that if the picture is enlarged you can see an ornament hanging on the girdle- like a Christmas bauble. It is red and gold and looks exceedingly like a venetian glass apple;
Decorations like this were very popular- as the Venetians had found a way to colour the glass and melt gold over the top. The apple is just by her waist and almost fades into the background- but it is there. Apples and Diana seem to go together.

But that is not why I have posted. Donatello made some bronze pulpits and the one that has the Resurrection when the Guards were sleeping (Gospel of Mathew) shows the guards as Praetorian Guards of the Emperor Tiberius- because their sheild(scutum) has the water scorpion on it. This was a common practice apparently to have the birth Zodiac sign of the Emperor and Tiberius was born November 16th. You can buy these trinkets today with Tiberius's scorpion etched on them.
It seems to me that on the Tarot de Marseille Moon cards it shows a similiar scheme to the Cancer scene that sembei posted from Malatesta's Temple.
Could the Moon card mean the following?
Saint Augustine was born under the sign of the water scorpion and out he comes from the Sea to speak of the Cynics
(school of Dogs)that form of asceticism he calls Heresy
...... the arrogance in the idea that man can instruct God in what he should do, which leads many people to think they are governed by a "man-made god." Those sharing this latter conception usually are not misled by the unnatural humility of asceticism. "Nothing is prouder than the humility of the ascetic of the other-worldly spirit that proclaims itself superior to the whole natural world, or than the mysticism that renounces the self only to commune with God himself." True humility is the desire to unite with and be within the whole of things but not above it.
Just wondering :)

~Lorredan
The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts

Re: The Moon

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Rosanne, Ive got the Il Meneghello facsimile of the Visconti-Sforza--they are quite large, about 6" long, and I can't see a bauble, where should I be looking?

eta. Ok. In trying to photograph the card, which I cannot do as the autofocus on the camera refuses, I see where you mean--a rounded notch in the fall of her hair that appears within the topmost loop of the girdle. I cannot tell if it is a golden ball shape with a white and red band, as I think you're suggesting. You might be right. I'm suspicious because it is an aesthetically awkward placement, because the "band" around the ball appears to be the same as the texture and color of her hair. Could be. There are certainly cards where a gilded decorative feature disappears visually into the surrounding gilt. I think it's like the hermit's purse and cannot be established without looking at the original. I don't know if this one is in Bergamo or New York.
Last edited by debra on 25 Aug 2012, 21:57, edited 1 time in total.

Re: The Moon

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It's just where some gold leaf has been worn away, leaving a semi-circular red patch of the underlying base. It is not part of the design.

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I suppose if proof were needed - if we need to argue it rather than just look -, I would ask what gold leaf is doing overlapping the supposed bauble.
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cron