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A diagram comparable to the ‘six picture series’ or ‘Alexandrian series’ pasted or bound in Persian manuscripts of the ‘Zakhīrah-i Khvārazm’Shāhī’ (‘Treasure of Khvārazm’Shāhī’) written by al-Jurjani (Ismā‘īl ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥusayn Jurjānī) c.1110, and the ‘Tashrīḥ-i Mansur-i' (‘Anatomy of Mansur’) written by Manṣūr ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf Ibn Ilyā, c.1390. As the scholar Karl Sudhoff wrote in 1924: ‘Astrological theory in the Middle Ages occupied somewhat the same position that Evolution does in modern times.’ It intertwined with so many working hypotheses that scheduling of everyday activities such as housebuilding, marriage and medication would become purely arbitrary without the control provided by planetary movements.
In addition to their associations with given months and organs, the zodiacal signs also had ‘qualities’ which were also relevant: Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn had the qualities combining the hot and the dry, while Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces had the qualities combining the cold and the wet. Subtle minds would consider all the implications and associations of the zodiacal signs, while the unsubtle would use them as rules of thumb and follow them uncritically. It is notable that the sign Gemini is shown as conjoined (‘Siamese’) twins.
Title
The Zodiac Man
Date
19th C (?)
Medium
watercolour, pen & ink on paper (?)
Measurements
H 31.3 x W 21.2 cm
Accession number
582971i
Acquisition method
purchased by Henry S. Wellcome from A. R. Hakoumoff, c.1932
Work type
Watercolour