
Astrology as Art
Representation and Practice

Edited by Nicholas Campion & Jennifer Zahrt
ISBN 13: 978-1-907767-10-4
Paperback: 186 Pages
Product Dimensions: 12.7 X 1.4 X 20.3 Cm
Description
This book explores the relationships between astrology and art from a range of perspectives. The different chapters by a range of scholars and experts provie a significant contribution to the field. From Mesopotamia and Mediterranean culture to Mesoamerica and into the European Renaissance and the modern era, the nine chapters in this anthology explore the meanings of art and astrology, the iconography of astrology and the nature of its practice, the use of zodiac signs, and the portrayal stars and planets in literature and the visual arts. With contributions by Spike Bucklow (of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge), Ruth Clydesdale, Richard Dunn (formerly at the Greenwich Observatory, now at the Science Museum), Martin Gansten, Liesbeth Grotenhuis, John Meeks, Suzanne Nolan, Micah Ross, and Claudia Rousseau.
Reviews
Nicholas Campion and Jennifer Zahrt have brought together a fascinating array of scholars probing a range of astrological concepts and questions. In this volume the interactions of art and astrology take the stage. Martin Gansten leads off, examining the many variations on the term ‘art’ as it has been used in relation to astrology in western and non-western cultures. The volume concludes with a study of the symbolist painter Fernand Khnopff. In between these book ends, readers will find investigations from the classical iconographic to the social uses of art and astrology. These analyses will resonate with their own research and understandings of the many correlations of astrology with art.
~J. McKim Malville; Northern Illinois University
Table of Contents
Foreword
Dr. Nicholas Campion and Jennifer Zahrt
Introduction
Ars, Technē, śāstra,ʿIlm: What’s in a Name?
Martin Gansten
The Iconography of Libra and Pisces in Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece
Micah Ross
Dwarfs as an Ancient Mayan Metaphor for the Stars
Suzanne Nolan
Astrological Imagery in the Rulership Propaganda of Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici
Claudia Rousseau
Astrological Symbolism in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzivâl
John Meeks
Seeing the World Soul: Marsilio Ficino and Talismanic Art
Ruth Clydesdale
Lower Astrology and Silent Poetry
Spike Bucklow
Picturing the Practitioner: Notes Towards an Iconography of Astrological Practice
Richard Dunn
Twinkling Voices from the Gods: Fernand Khnopff’s Use of Stars as Mystical Guides in ‘Avec Verhaeren, un ange’
Liesbeth Grotenhuis
About the Contributors
Index