The Astrological Vault of the Villa Farnesina Agostino Chigi's Rising Sign

Author(s): Mary Quinlan-McGrath

Reviewed work(s):
Source: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 47 (1984), pp. 91-105
Published by: The Warburg Institute
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 THE ASTROLOGICAL VAULT OF THE VILLA FARNESINA
AGOSTINO CHIGI'S RISING SIGN
Mary Quinlan-McGrath
HE VILLA FARNESINA,built for Agostino Chigi by Baldassare Peruzzi in the first
decade of the Cinquecento,' has charmed and intrigued its viewers for nearly five
hundred years. Particularly interesting and enigmatic in its iconography is the
of
cycle twenty-six figural panels on the vault of the loggia which originally opened on to
the gardens and the Tiber (Pls 17, 18).2 The present study offers some proposals on the
relationships between the different subjects frescoed there by Peruzzi around 151 .3
Richard F6rster, Fritz Saxl and Willy Hartner have contributed much to our
understanding of this cycle.4 Nevertheless, at present we can claim to know only the
primary meaning of the ten spandrels, or triangular sections descending from the central
panel to the horizontal moulding below the lunettes. These will be discussed first.
Subsequent argument will focus on the importance of the fourteen severies and the two
central ceiling panels, which have never been carefully evaluated. The interpretation of
the vault ensemble will then be compared with a recently discovered document concern-
ing the birth date of Agostino Chigi,f to see in what way the information in the document
and that deduced from the ceiling coincide.

This article is dedicated to Sir Ernst Gombrich who first [In the middle the house is built famous for its lofty walls
suggested that I look into the problem of this vault and and roofs, of which house the Heavens cover everywhere
who has followed my research with kind attention. The the middle of the Hall with the hanging stars of the
study is part of a doctoral dissertation at the University chariot/s.]
of Chicago under Professor Charles Cohen, whom I In a poem of January 1512, SuburbanumAugustini
thank for his support. I am similarly indebted to Chisii, Rome 1512, 11.63-66, Blosius Palladius discusses
Professor Edward Bassett for help in the translation of several of the lunettes:
classical sources. Heic luno ut veris vehitur Pavonibus: Extat
1 For the most complete modern study of the Heic Venus orta mari/et concha sub sydera fertur.
documents, dating, architect and patron see C. Heic Boreas raptam ferus avehit Orithyiam.
Frommel, Die Farnesina und Peruzzis architektonisches Heic Pandioniae reserant arcana sorores.
Friihwerk,Berlin 1961. This information appears in a [Here Juno is born aloft as though by real Peacocks.
condensed form in C. Frommel, Der RbmischePalastbau Venus stands out here, risen from the sea, and is carried
derHochrenaissance, nii,Tiibingen 1973, PP. 149-74. on her shell up under the stars. Here wild Boreas carries
2 R. F6rster, Farnesina-Studien:Ein Beitragzur Fragenach off the Orithyia he has snatched. Here the Athenian
dem Verhalitnis derRenaissancezurAntike, Rostock 1880, pp. sisters unseal the secrets.]
41-44. F. Saxl, La fede astrologica di Agostino The execution of the lunettes would have followed that
Chigi.:
Interpretazionedei dipinti di BaldassarePeruzzi nella Sala di of the vault. It is not possible to place the vault much
Galatea della Farnesina, Rome 1934, pp. 22-28. See before 1511 since the building was not completed much
further nn. 9, 23-26 below. earlier. See C. Frommel, BaldassarePeruzzi als Maler und
3 The attribution of the vault to Peruzzi goes back to Zeichner,Vienna 1967, p. 65.
G. Vasari, Le vite de' piu eccellenti pittori, scultori ed 4
F6rster, op. cit. n. 2 above; Saxl, op. cit. n. 2 above;
architettori,ed. Milanesi, iv, Florence 1878-85, pp. 593- W. Hartner, 'Qusayr "Amra, Farnesina, Luther,
94, and has never been seriously doubted. The vault Hesiod. Some Supplementary Notes to A. Beer's
could not be later than 1511since it is mentioned in a Contribution', Vistasin Astronomy,ix, 1967, pp. 226-27.
poem of that year, Aegidius Gallus, De viridarioAugustini s See Ingrid Rowland, 'The Birth Date of Agostino
Chigii, Patritii Senen.,Rome 1511, Bk. 5,11. 99-o101: Chigi: Documentary Proof', this Journal, XLVII,1984,
In medio erecta est sublimibus inclita tectis pp. 192-3.
Parietibusque domus: cuius tegit undique currum
Sideribus medias Caelum pendentibus Aulas.

91
and Courtauld
Journalofthe Warburg Institutes,Volume 47, 1984
92 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH
The architecture of the loggia follows a standard format for prominent halls in this
period, but we must make a brief architectural detour to see how it initially imposed a
certain logical pattern on the composer of this cycle. A misunderstandingof the structural
and decorative necessities of the room has seriously impaired our perception of the
content of the paintings. In the loggia (Pls I7, I18)a long lowered vault was carried to the
horizontal moulding by ten spandrels, four to each long wall and one to each end wall.
Fourteen severies separated the spandrels, visually receding in the design, and filling the
area over the lunettes on three walls, and the open arches on the fourth. Peruzzi divided
the long flat ceiling in half with two polygonal compositions showing constellations.6 The
ten spandrels were decorated with hexagonal compartments depicting the zodiacal signs
and the planets under their antique personifications, and the fourteen severies were
ornamented with classical figures representing fourteen extra-zodiacal star groups.
Chigi's shield originally presided in the place of honour between the two main ceiling
panels.7
One important point has not been given sufficient notice in the literatureon the loggia
and its iconography. The main entry into this space was through the central archway on
the garden side, not from the palace as it is today. Peruzzi set up the elaborate perspectival
framing system of the ceiling from this point, and the illusion of the frames's depth is
distorted once one moves away from this entrance. Even more obviously, the two central
ceiling panels can be read by the visitor only when he is standing with his back to the
arches as though he has just entered. From the palace doors the two main frescoes are
upside down, and no Renaissance painter would have allowed that confusing view for his
grand entrance effect. Peruzzi also designed the ceiling so that the most significant
constellations for Chigi's horoscope were located in the most prominent positions, directly
opposite the entry arch.
The architecture of the loggia presented a problem for the painter who was given the
task of illustrating a complex astrological cycle, since the basic information of any
horoscope is derived from the twelve zodiacal signs. Peruzzi had no natural twelve-part
divisions with which to work. His logical choices were to utilize either the ten spandrels for
the zodiac (which would force him to pair four of the signs) or the fourteen severies,
adding two appropriate but extraneous figures. He chose the first alternative for a good
decorative reason. The spandrels are much more prominent visually - they descend
vertically to the cornice and are clearly read from all points of the room.8The severies, by
contrast, recede almost horizontally. They were therefore given the extra-zodiacal
constellations which are less important in determining the horoscope. Misunderstanding
of this decorative choice, like that of the correct.entry point, has led modern scholars to
some dubious assertions.
THE SPANDRELS
The specific identifications of our twenty-six frescoes do not, on the whole, pose a
problem. Forster and Saxl identified the myths of the twelve zodiacal signs and the seven
6 For the specific details on the identifications see
There, with the same architectural system of vaulting,
above and below pp. 92-98 and the relevant footnotes. he used the ten spandrels to carry his main narrative,
7 A. M. Tantillo, 'Restauri alla Farnesina', Bollettino and consigned a secondary theme to the fourteen
d'Arte, LVII, 1972, p. 34. The shield has since been severies.
changed to that of the Duke of Ripalta.
8 Raphael arrived at the same decorative solution in

painting the adjoining loggia of Cupid and Psyche.

 ASTROLOGICAL VAULT OF THE FARNESINA 93
planets in the spandrels.9 These constellations are painted not as star clusters, but rather
in the form of the classical myths commonly known in this period. Looking for the first
sign of the zodiac, we find Aries paired with Taurus in the hexagon over the entrant's left
shoulder (P1. i8, 19a). Although this is certainly not a prominent visual position, it is
convenient to start the identifications here. This same hexagon houses the personification
of the planet Jupiter. Proceeding around the spandrels toward the north - or for the
visitor now facing Aries/Taurus, to his left - we find in the next four hexagons Gemini,
Cancer, Leo, and Virgo with the Moon, which is personified as Diana the huntress. The
next spandrel begins the second half of the zodiac, and as with the first hexagon the two
signs of Libra and Scorpio are paired. Two planets, Mars and Mercury, appear in their
godly forms with them (P1. i9d). The next four spandrels feature Sagittarius with Apollo
as the Sun (P1.19c), then Capricorn with Venus, next Aquarius, and lastly Pisces with
Saturn.
Warburg and Saxl explained the meaning of these ten divisions.10 When the seven
planets are positioned in the twelve zodiacal signs, a date is often encoded. Since the
movement of the planets through the heavens is that of an absolutely precise clock, only a
very select number of days in history could have seen this particular placement of the
seven planets. With the help of Arthur Beer, Saxl found that the date could be limited to a
few days around i December 1466 and they settled on this day for Chigi's probable
birth." At any other time, one or more of the seven planets would have moved beyond the
range of the sign in which Saxl believed they were found.12Agostino Chigi's birthday was
not then known, though the earliest document on that point stated that he was born circa
I465. ' Saxl concluded that the ceiling represents the position of planets in the zodiacal
signs ori Chigi's astrological birth date.14
Saxl and Beer produced some minor miscalculations in the placement of the planets,'s
which Willy Hartner corrected in 1967.16 Hartner showed that the planets all fit neatly
into the thirty-degree limits of the zodiacal signs, as they were painted in the ceiling. He
further pointed out that by i December 1466 the Moon hadjust moved beyond Virgo, the
sign in which she is painted. Only between 28 November and 30 November 1466 were all

9
F6rster, op. cit. n. 2 above, pp. 41-42. He does not s15Saxl's mistake regarding Jupiter in Aries (Saxl, op.
always seem aware that the mythological figures which cit. n. 2 above, p. 23) was later corrected (Saxl, Lectures,
he names with the zodiacal signs represented the I, London 1957, p. 197). The more serious transposi-
planets. For example he calls the Sun god Apollo tions of planets for the horoscope occurred because he
'Achilles'. See Saxl, op. cit. n. 2 above, p. 28; and and Beer felt the painter gave each zodiacal sign its true
Hartner, op. cit. n. 4 above, p. 226. astronomical length in the heavens, i.e. the length
o10Saxl, op. cit. n. 2 above, pp. 28-29. determined by the actual distribution of the stars in each
11 Saxl, op. cit. n. 2 above, p. 65. constellation. This caused them to produce a horoscope
12 For Saxl's
misreading of three of the planets, see n. 15 showing Mercury in Sagittarius, the Moon in Libra and
below. Venus in Aquarius (Saxl, op. cit. n. 2 above, pp. 29, 37,
13 The best study of Chigi's life is still that of G. 39) which contradicts the evidence of the ceiling; cf.
Cugnoni, 'Agostino Chigi il Magnifico', Archivio della Pls 18, 19c, d. A. Beer, 'Astronomical Dating of Works
Societa Romanadi Storia Patria, nii-Iv, VI, I1879-81, 1883. of Art', Vistas in Astronomy, ix, I1967, pp.
I189-99,
For the document about his birth see ibid., II, 1879, essentially repeated his original findings from Saxl, op.
p. 46. cit. n. 2 above. The precision with which a date can be
14 Hartner, op. cit. n. 4 above, p. 227, pointed out that calculated today is greatly facilitated by the publication
the precise birth date was never as important to the of B. Tuckerman, Planetary,Lunar,and SolarPositionsA.D.
Renaissance patron or astrologer as was finding a day 2 to A.D. 1649, Philadelphia 1964.
and time close to the real birth which gave auspicious 16 Hartner, op. cit. n. 4
above, p. 226.
predictions and was consonant with the known facts of
the person's life.
 94 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH
the planets found in the signs in which they are frescoed. Hartner settled on the
probability of 30 November. Calculating according to the Alphonsine tables which were
used by Renaissance astronomers/astrologers,one can furtherlimit the days to the two of
29 November or 30 November, based on the position of the Moon.17 With these
rectifications, Saxl's proposal on the subject of the ten spandrels is shown to be correct.
However, one of the assumptions made by Saxl about the spandrels seems to have led
Hartner to a questionable hypothesis. Saxl noted that on entering the room, the visitor's
eye was immediately drawn to Aries, and that the decoratorhad intended one's perusal to
proceed from that point. 18 This is only true if the visitor enters the room from the palace
rather than from the garden as was intended, and if, in addition, the viewer already knows
where Aries is located and looks up to find it. Otherwise Aries, shown only as a fairly
insignificant ram in the backgroundof the hexagon featuringTaurus andJupiter (P1. 9a)
would never be noticed. For this matter, Hartner understandably relied on the art
historian'sjudgement. He proceeded to note that only Aries and Taurus, and their 18o00
counterparts, Libra and Scorpio, were shown paired (P1. i9d). He drew the natural
conclusion that this was not accidental, and that it must have some significance. Since no
horoscopic predictions can be made solely on the data of planets in zodiacal positions, but
must also include the critical information on the newborn's horoscopus or ascendant, that
degree of the ecliptic which is rising on the eastern horizon at the moment of birth,19he
reasoned that the artist was trying to signal that information as nearly as possible by
pointing out Chigi's rising sign.20 He proposed that it was one of the four doubled signs
and selected Aries.
But the visual evidence hardly suggests that the artist had intended to attract
immediate attention to these two hexagons. Aries is very small, Libra and Scorpio even
less visible, insignificant symbols in the background (P1. i9a, d). Only Taurus's stature
equals the majority of the constellations. The doubling of constellations, then, while
certainly not accidental, is probably not significant for Chigi's horoscope. It is the simple
solution to a decorative problem, fitting twelve constellations into the ten available
spandrels.21When Peruzzi wanted to give visual prominence he had no trouble in doing
so. A sign of prestige in a decorative ensemble is not to share space, but rather to take the
field alone. In the spandrel zone it is Sagittarius, Chigi's sun sign, which was given pride
of place (Pls 17, 18, 19c). It is opposite the entry arch on the spandrel which descends from
the ceiling panel showing Fame.22 She trumpets her horn towards it and towards the
Chigi coat of arms.
THE SEVERIES
Hartner was certainly right to look for the ascendant. This important information is
found, I believe, in the fourteen severies and the two major ceiling panels. F6rster and
17
Since the Moon would have been in Leo on 28 degree being worth approximately four minutes, but
November this day is eliminated. I thank Professor Noel also by the geographical latitude at which the birth
Swerdlow of the University of Chicago who computed occurred.
the position of the Moon according to the Alphonsine 21 The choice of which four constellations to double

tables and who checked my calculations throughout. probably depended on simple logic: the first two
18sSaxl, op. cit. n. 2 above, p. 22; Hartner, op. cit. n. 4 constellations of the first half of the zodiac, and the first
above, p. 227. two constellations of the second half.
19 This is not to be confused with the native's sun sign, 22 For the identification of Fame see text
below, p. 98,
the sign in which the Sun is located at the birth. and n. 41.
20
Hartner, op. cit. n. 4 above, p. 227. The degree of the
ascendant varies not only by the time of day, each
 ASTROLOGICAL VAULT OF THE FARNESINA 95
Saxl again established the basic identifications of the classical figures painted in the
severies.23 Standing in the original principal entry of the loggia under the central arch,
and looking up to the severy directly opposite the entry, one is confronted with the Altar
(Pls i8, 19b). Proceeding from this to the left we find the Lyre, the Arrow, the Dolphin, the
Bird or Swan, the Horse Pegasus,24the Triangle and the River Eridanus. Returning to the
central Altar and proceeding to the right we have the Northern Crown, the Crater, the
Hydra, the Dog,25 the Ship, and the Charioteer.
Why were these fourteen constellations illustrated? F6rster's proposal, that the
decorator had generally placed northern constellations in the north of the room and
southern constellations in the south, certainly does not work.26Saxl thought they had an
astronomical significance and were chosen because they are astronomically close to the
zodiacal signs which they touch in the ceiling.27Because this theory does not fit precisely,
he added a second criterion, asserting that when other constellations were also close, the
choice was determined by selecting a love story.28There are two basic problems with this
theory. The first is that even if we join both his criteria, there are still some very odd
choices and omissions. Secondly, given the wide latitude which he.understands by the
term 'near', and the fact that in some way or other so many of the constellations known in
the Renaissance could be tied to a love story, virtually the whole Renaissance sky would fit
his theory.29Moreover, several of the chosen constellations do not qualify as love stories,
such as the Hydra, the Altar, Pegasus and Eridanus. One might as well decide that the
choices were roughly near, but primarily random.
One can refine Saxl's proximity theory by proposing that extra-zodiacal constellations
were chosen and placed next to the zodiacal signs when the stars of those constellations
were at roughly the same longitude as the stars of the zodiacal sign. That is to say, we
could imagine cutting the celestial globe into segments, much like the segments of an
orange, and then checking to see which constellations were on the same segment above or
below the zodiacal sign. However, we would find that on that same longitudinal slice to

23 F6rster, op. cit. n. 2 above, pp.

42-43. Saxl, op. cit. fact that almost all the constellations found in the south
n. 2 above, pp. 23, 26, corrected F6rster's 'Swan' to of the room (from Lyra to Triangle) are northern
Eridanus, and 'Andromeda' to the Swan. Cf. Hyginus, constellations, and most of those in the north of the room
Poetica astronomica,Venice 1482, n, min,for the Bird as are located in the southern sky (the Ship, Hydra and
Swan, the Horse as Pegasus, the River as Eridanus, the Crater).
Hydra typically shown with the tree and Crow, and the I would like to thank Phyllis Pittluga of the Adler
Dog as Canis Major. Planetarium in Chicago for her assistance in testing
24 Saxl, op. cit. n. 2 above,
pp. 26-27, suggested that various sky theories, not only in discussions but by
this could be the Little Horse. He stated that both setting the sky back to 1466 for me.
celestial horses could be shown as winged, a statement 27 Saxl, op. cit. n. 2
above, pp. 22-27.
for which he gives no source. To the best of my 28
Ibid., p. 26.
29 For example, why is the Ship next to
knowledge the two horses were usually distinguished by Cancer, when
the fact that Pegasus was winged. (R. H. Allen, Star the Hydra is next to Cancer in the sky? Why is the Dog
Names: TheirLoreand Meaning,New York [reprint] 1963, painted next to Leo when it is far from it in the real sky
p. 213.) Saxl of course wished to make the major ceiling and has no romantic significance? Why is the Lyre
panel into Pegasus; therefore he did not want this severy painted between Sagittarius and Capricorn when the
to be Pegasus. See my text below, p. 98 and n. 40. Eagle was closer and furthermore represented a love
25 Saxl, op. cit. n. 2 above, p.
24, thought this might be story ofJupiter? Why is the Swan painted near Aquarius
the Dog with Orion. However it is much more likely that when several constellations intervene in the real sky?
it is only the Dog. Many of the severies have a young Why is Pegasus next to Pisces when Andromeda was
man or young woman holding an attribute, but in every next to it in the real sky and was certainly part of a love
case it is the attribute, not the youth, that is significant. story, which could not be said about Pegasus?
26 F6rster, op. cit. n. 2 above,
pp. 43-44, suggested this
tentatively. His hesitancy certainly stemmed from the
96 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH
the north or south of the zodiac there are other constellations which are sometimes closer
to the zodiacal constellation in latitude, even though these closer constellations were not
chosen to be painted. This still does not explain why the fourteen that were painted were
chosen over another fourteen, fitting the same longitudinal qualifications and sometimes
better latitudinal coordinates.30
It would seem that the fourteen constellations depicted were selected from Aratus's
Phaenomena and Manilius's Astronomica to indicate that Chigi's ascendant was Virgo. Both
texts were readily available in the Scriptores astronomiciveteresfirst published by the Aldine
Press in Venice in 1499.31 Aratus lists a great number of extra-zodiacal constellations in
lines 559-732 of the Phaenomena.32 He tells which extra-zodiacal constellations were rising
and setting with the ascension of each of the twelve zodiacal signs.33 None of the twelve
rising signs bears any relation to our room until we come to Virgo.34There, according to
Aratus, when Virgo is rising, the Lyre, the Dolphin, the Arrow, the Swan, Eridanus and
Pegasus are setting, while Hydra, Crater, the Dog and the Ship are rising. For the
severies, the designer placed to the left of the Altar the Lyre, the Arrow, the Dolphin, the
Swan, Pegasus and Eridanus; to the right Crater, Hydra, the Dog and the Ship. All ten of
the constellations connected by Aratus with Virgo were thus used, those rising to the right
of Altar and those setting to Altar's left. Comparing the text, the heavens, and the loggia,
it is interesting to see that Peruzzi corrected small discrepancies within Aratus's two
groups, so that they would correspond to the order of the constellations in the real sky. For
example where Aratus gave the order Lyre, Dolphin, Arrow; Peruzzi frescoed Lyre,
Arrow, Dolphin, since the Arrow lies between the other two constellations in the sky. And
though Aratus named Eridanus before Pegasus, Peruzzi placed Pegasus first because it
sets before the River in the west.
For the four other severies that had to be filled, Peruzzi looked elsewhere. Manilius,
and the related author Firmicus, were evidently of some help. In Book Five of the
Astronomica Manilius describes only extra-zodiacals which are on the rise with Virgo, and
30 To givejust a few 31 Scriptoresastronomiciveteres, Venice
examples, why not paint Cassiopea 1499, contains the
or Cetus next to the hexagon of Aries/Taurus since their editio princeps of Firmicus Maternus's eight books on
stars are defined by Aries/Taurus, whereas the astronomy, the five books of Marcus Manilius, the editio
Triangle's fall only into Taurus and are not as close as princepsof Aratus's Phaenomena,with the two important
Cetus's in latitude? Why not paint Orion next to Gemini translations of Aratus, that by Germanicus Caesar and
instead of Auriga and Eridanus? Auriga and Orion the known fragment of Cicero's, Rufus Festus Avienus's
would have been better if both longitudinal and paraphrase of Aratus, and the Greek Theon's commen-
latitudinal co-ordinates were considered. Why paint the tary. Proclus's Sphaeraconcluded this volume.
32 See Aratus, Phaenomena, trs. G. R. Mair, in
Ship next to Cancer when the Little Dog would have
been much more appropriate, since most of Argo's stars Callimachus, Lycophron (trs. A. W. Mair), Loeb
are defined by the longitude of Leo not Cancer, and Classical Library, London and Cambridge Mass. 1955,
since the Little Dog is much closer in longitude and pp. 195-98, for the importance of Aratus to later
latitude to Cancer? Why paint the Northern Crown astronomers/astrologers. See F. Boll, Sphaera: Neue
between Virgo and Libra when the stars of the Northern griechische Texte und Untersuchungenzur Geschichteder
Crown are defined longitudinally by Scorpio, and when Sternbilder,Leipzig 1903, on the paranatellonta.
Bo6tes's stars are all defined by Virgo and Libra? Why 33 Aratus, op. cit., pp. 202-04.
34 Ibid., 11.596-606. Hyginus, op. cit. n.
flank Capricorn with the Lyre and the Arrow, when the 23 above, Iv,
Eagle's stars were also in Capricorn's longitude and repeats Aratus's information. For an interesting variant
were closer latitudinally? I have used a Renaissance on Virgo's rising cf. Boll, op. cit. n. 32 above, p. 69; the
version of the Alphonsine tables, Alfonso X, el Sabio, text of Vettius Valens lists 13 constellations related to
Tabulaeastronomicae,Paris 1545, for the co-ordinates of Leo's rising and there we find 8 of ours. I thank
longitude. This contained the computations of Luca Professor David Pingree of Brown University for
Gaurico and the longitudes in the text were calculated discussing his forthcoming edition of Valens with me.
for the end of 15oo00.For the individual constellations
cited see the charts on pp. 215-38.
 ASTROLOGICAL VAULT OF THE FARNESINA 97
he limits himself to her thirty degrees, not the full constellation. Thus he adds only the
Northern Crown to Aratus's list.35 Peruzzi included this as his eleventh constellation in
the space next to Virgo's spandrel, appropriately grouped with the rising constellations,
and in a prominent position across from the entry arch.
It would seem that two of the three remaining star groups were selected because of
their positions in the real sky relative to the pattern for Virgo's rising. The Triangle is
located in the sky between Pegasus and Eridanus; thereforeif both were descending, as
Aratus says, so too was it. In the ceiling the Triangle is painted appropriately between
Pegasus and Eridanus. The Charioteer is similarly accounted for. Aratus states that the
Dog and the Ship are rising and the stars of Eridanus are setting. Between these
constellations in the real sky we find the Charioteer; in the ceiling it therefore appears
between the Ship and Eridanus.
We are left now with only one constellation - the Altar - which has no apparent
relation to Virgo's rising. It is obviously pivotal in the decoration, since it is opposite the
entry arch, and it is touching Chigi's sun sign of Sagittarius. It also separates the two
groups of ascending and descending constellations. To understand its significance we
must look to the Renaissance versions of the Alphonsine tables. In these tables which
include star positions we find that in late 1466 the first star of the Altar was located about
2570 o' longitude. Likewise according to the Alphonsine tables, the longitude of the Sun at
noon on 29 November 1466 was about 256o 30'; and at noon on 3o November was about
2570 30'.36 In other words, the Altar's first star and the position of the Sun coincide during
29-30 November 1466 at approximately midnight. The Altar's first star thus pinpoints
the longitude of the Sun in Sagittarius at Chigi's birth, a point which otherwise might
have been located anywhere in the 3o00breadth of the sign. It thereforelimits the birth date
which can be deduced from the paintings ofChigi's vault to a period of twenty-fourhours,
for the Sun moves approximately one degree per day. The apposition of the Altar, Sun and
Sagittarius, located directly across from the entry of the loggia, actually summarizes all
the information given in the ten spandrels, but in an even more precise form.37Taking all
ten together we can arrive at a two-day range for Chigi's birth. Taking only the Altar with
the adjacent spandrel of Sagittarius and the Sun, we arrive within a twenty-four hour
period from noon 29 November to noon 3o November. If the painter wished to indicate
that the Sun and Altar's first star were precisely aligned, then Altar's choice is even more
significant, for the precise coincidence would have occurred on that night at a time when
Virgo was rising on the east.38Let us move now to the two majorceiling panels, to see how
this theory finds further corroborationthere.
THE CEILING PANELS

Looking up to the ceiling we see on the right a maiden driving a chariot pulled by oxen
(P1. 2oa). This represents the constellation of the Wain or Chariot driven by either
3SManilius, Astronomica, trs. G. P. Goold, Loeb which set of ephemerides he was using. Virgo was rising
Classical Library, v. 251-93. He also names Spica, but between approximately 10.25 p.m. and i.oo a.m.
since this is a star within Virgo it could not be separately according to the standard Renaissance Table of Houses.
painted. For the calculations throughout this paper I used the
36 These computations were made from the
Alphonsine Table of Houses published in Johann Sch6ner, Tabulae
Tables printed in Venice 1518/21. astronomicae,Nuremberg 1536, which is attributed to
37 One would also need some of the spandrels with their Regiomontanus.
planetary positions to deduce the year.
38 We cannot know how precisely the painter/astrolo-
ger intended the coincidence, since we do not know
98 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH
Cynosura or Helice, more commonly known today as one of the two Bears.39The panel on
the left features the constellation of Perseus (P1. 2ob), who is shown about to decapitate
Medusa.40 Her victims, already turned to stone, look on. The small horse's head in the
lower right of this group probably represents Pegasus who sprang from the blood of
Medusa. The large winged female floating above is usually identified as Fame,41although
she could be Virgo trumpeting Chigi's fame, since Virgo was often shown as a winged
maiden dressed in just such a long white gown (P1.21a-d). Whatever the case, her role is
not astrological. She trumpets toward the Chigi coat of arms, and her horn points as well
to Sagittarius and the Altar (P1. i8). She is in a sense the choric figure who directs the
viewer's attention.
But why were the constellations of Perseus and the Chariot important for Chigi's
horoscope? Saxl is the only scholar who has speculated on this point.42Because the room
runs roughly north and south, and a northern constellation, the Chariot, appears at the
northern end of the room, he proposed a coincidence of the north-south line of the sky at
the moment of Chigi's birth with the north-south axis of the room. This would then give
the time of day for which Chigi's horoscope had been charted. I believe Saxl was right, but
his method of calculation led him a little astray. He proposed a north-south line
connecting two of the spandrels with the two ceiling frescoes, and thus he selected the four
constellations Leo, the Chariot/Great Bear, Pegasus (the Perseus panel renamed) and
Aquarius to define his line (P1. i18). There are three primaryobjections to this. The first is
simple but critical: if the painter had wanted to feature Pegasus instead of Perseus, he
would have done so. Secondly it is unprofitable to look for a north-south axis which is
determined by the zodiacal signs Leo and Aquarius frescoedin the northern and southern
spandrels of the room, because once Peruzzi placed Chigi's sun sign, Sagittarius, in the
most prestigious visual position, the rest of the zodiac took its natural order around the
room. Thirdly, since Saxl is dealing with a theory that attempts to coordinate northern
and southern points of the room with northern and southern points of the sky overhead,
the zodiacal signs Leo and Aquarius must be left out of consideration altogether, since the
zodiac runs roughly around the equator and therefore is all seen to the south at the
latitude of Chigi's villa.

39 Frster, op. cit. n. 2 above, pp. 39-41. In his poem on cannot really tell then if this is Helice/Great Bear as the
the villa of 1511 (op. cit. n. 3 above) A. Gallus refers to constellation of the Wain/Chariot, or whether it is
the stars of the Chariot hanging overhead. This might Cynosura/Little Bear as the Wain/Chariot. The artist
seem to clinch the identification in favour of the Great had a problem. Short of including an inscription, he
Bear/Helice, rather than the Little Bear/Cynosura. But really had no visual way to distinguish the two nymphs
for astrologers used in the Cinquecento such as Aratus, driving the chariot with oxen, since both were so closely
both the nymphs Helice and Cynosura are referred to as associated in mythology. However, if we set the sky back
the Wains plural. Cf. Aratus, op. cit. n. 32 above, 1.27; to 1466 and the time back to that mentioned in Chigi's
Ovid, Metamorphoses,H. I171. See Allen, op. cit. n. 24 baptismal document (cf. text accompanying n. 48
above, pp. 431, 433, 448, 450, who pointed out that below), the line-up of the Little Bear and Perseus on the
Roman writers especially considered both the Great and meridian is so dazzling as to convince me that it was the
Little Bears to be associated with the Plough Oxen Little Bear which was intended.
(which we see painted). Hyginus, op. cit. n. 23 above, 40 Vasari (op. cit. n. 3 above, pp. 593-94) first
11.2, tells the whole story of the Chariot or Wain under identified this. Saxl, op. cit. n. 2 above, pp. 30-32,
the heading of the Little Bear, however, he refers to the renamed this fresco Pegasus so that it would coincide
Great Bear as the Wain. with his theory for the meaning of the panels. His
Both nymphs represented the constellations which argument is discussed in n. 24 above.
today we call the Great and Little Bears, both were 41 F6rster, op. cit. n. 2 above, p. 40; Saxl, op. cit. n. 2
associated with the Chariot and the Plough Oxen which above, pp. 31-32.
are painted, and both were maidens. Visually, we 42 Saxl, op. cit. n. 2
above, pp. 30-32.
 ASTROLOGICAL VAULT OF THE FARNESINA 99
A much simpler hypothesis seems more appropriate. The north-south line was
determined by placing the Chariot/Bear in the northern part of the ceiling and Perseus in
the south. If the heavens are set back to late November 1466 for the latitude of Siena, and
the stars of the Chariot/Little Bear are at the North Pole with Perseus directly south on the
meridian, one has the sky as it could only have been seen between approximately 9.20
p.m. and i .oo p.m.43 Looking now to the eastern horizon we note an interesting
phenomenon: when the Chariot/Little Bear was at the Pole and Perseus was moving
overhead, the last 120 of Leo and the first 70 of Virgo were rising on the east.44
It would seem that like a fine clock, the parts of this ceiling are intricately meshed.
Each zone, from the spandrels through the severies to the ceiling panels, reinforces and
refines the same information, the moment of 'I1 Magnifico' Agostino Chigi's ideal
astrological birth. The ten spandrels give us a choice of two days, 29-30 November 1466;
Altar's position next to Sagittarius must limit that to a twenty-four hour period between
noon of 29 November and noon of 3o November, and perhaps even more specifically to the
time around midnight when Virgo was rising; the remaining thirteen severies also tell us
that Virgo was ascending in the east; and the two ceiling panels either confirm Virgo's
rising or add a new possibility that the end of Leo was ascending. Since the stars of Perseus
were overhead between 9.20 p.m. and ii.oo p.m. and the stars of Virgo were ascending
between 10.25 p.m. and i.oo a.m.,45 taking the broadest range of time we might
reasonably predict that Chigi was born some time in the approximately 31/2 hours
between 9.20 p.m. and I.oo a.m. on 29-30 November 1466. If the artist did not intend us
to use the broadest range but rather the intersection of Perseus's time at the zenith and
Virgo's time in the east (certainly a possibility, since Peruzzi did not indicate which star of
Perseus was meant to be read directly overhead), then the birth would seem to have
occurred in that intersection, i.e. between 10.25 p.m. and i .oo p.m.
The splendid painted vault thus presents a programme of remarkable intricacy, and
Peruzzi's fame as an astrologer must have been due in part to the great success of these
frescoes.46

THE DOCUMENT

We now know that in a document in the Baptistry archives at Siena Mariano Chigi
records the birth of his son at 21•/2 hours on 29 November 1466.47The notation of the time
is not unambiguous, since in the Quattrocento this could indicate 21•/2 hours after noon,
after midnight, after sunset or after sunrise. Noon and midnight were the points of
departure for astronomers, while sunset, and more rarely sunrise, served for the general

43 44 The
Cf. n. 39 above for the Little Bear. degrees rising on the east are taken from a
If one takes the broadest longitudinal co-ordinates of standard Renaissance Table of Houses for 420 latitude,
Perseus from the Alphonsine Tables, op. cit. n. 3o op. cit. n. 38 above.
45 These
above, the outermost stars have longitudes of 460 and computations are again based on a Renaiss-
660. Professor Swerdlow calculated the following times ance Table of Houses for 420 latitude, op. cit. n. 38
at which Perseus's stars were crossing the meridian on above.
29 November 1466. The bright star Algol would have op. cit. n. 3 above, p. 604. Chigi was
46 Vasari.

reached it at about 9.30 p.m., approximately 31/20 below surrounded by literary advisers, many of whom were
the zenith; Alchemb would have arrived about fifteen adept at astrology. Francesco Priuli and Giorgio
minutes later. The last star with a longitude of Salviati are only two of the specialists in this field who
approximately 660 would have come to the meridian at were associated with him.
47
about Ii.oo p.m. Rowland, op. cit. n. 5 above.
 100 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH
public.48 If the hours were counted from noon, sunset or sunrise, there is no relation
between the painted constellations and the document. But by contrast, 2 1/2 hours after
midnight produces a stunning correlation between the vault frescoes, the sky over Siena
on 29 November 1466 at 9.30 p.m. and the document. At 2 V/2hours after midnight the
Chariot/Little Bear, painted in the northern half of the vault, lay at the North Pole
extending to the north. Perseus, painted in the southern half of the vault and triumphantly
holding the head of Medusa, lay to the south of the Little Bear directly on the meridian
over Siena, and one of Perseus's brightest stars Algol, the 'Head of Medusa', was on the
meridian only 31/20below the zenith of the heavens.49This precise coincidence of the vault
painting and the document's time could not have occurred by accident. 21 /2 hours must
have been counted from midnight.
However, at 9.30 p.m. the end of Leo would have been on the ascendant; there were
still 55 minutes before Virgo would rise. It is possible to account for the apparent
discrepancy by supposing that Chigi simply misrememberedhis exact time of birth or did
not know what had been so carefully recorded in the Baptistry register the day after his
birth so many years before. Perhaps he knew only that he was born somewhat before
midnight on 29 November 1466. In that case the later stars of Perseus would have been
overhead and Virgo would have been rising. Or, given inaccuracies of astrolabes,
timepieces and sitings, as well as variations in the methods used to compute ascendants,s50
perhaps Mariano Chigi's astrologer erred slightly. Looking up he saw Perseus overhead,
looking to the east he thought Virgo was rising.5' Yet a more plausible explanation is that,
although born under the end of Leo, the predictions under Virgo coincided better with the
facts of Chigi's life. In this case a rectificatio
would have been performed.52The ceiling
would then record both the exact time of birth through the two main ceiling panels, as well
as the rectified ascendant Virgo through the fourteen severies, a dual notation not
uncommon in Renaissance charts.53

48 See J. Mueller (Regiomontanus) Calendario,Venice hour may already have been professionally rectified for
1476, 'De le hore temporale'. This text by the famous 9.30 p.m.; cf. text below p. 102.
Renaissance astronomer and mathematician went 49 See n.
43 above.
through numerous editions in Latin and Italian. Simple 50soAlthough the easiest way to compute an ascendant is
equations were given by Regiomontanus for converting to use a Table of Houses, I have also calculated this
the two astronomical systems into those of the populace. according to the method which Ptolemy explained in the
In all four instances the notation was given in a 24-hour Almagest, and through the cruder methods taught by
figure, otherwise negative numbers would have resulted Manilius (Astronomica,111.218-36). By all these methods
in the conversions. Later astronomers computed it is still always the end of Leo which was rising at
typically from midday but still gave Regiomontanus's 9.30 p.m.
directions for conversion into all four 24-hour notational s51 By 1466 the division between Virgo and Leo (1500)
systems; cf. Sch6ner, op. cit. n. 38 above, Canon i8. was located in the back of the Lion.
52 Such rectifications were
The four possible times would have been 9.30 p.m. extremely common because
the same day, 9.30 a.m. the following morning, the facts of the native's life were considered primary
a.m. the following morning (sunrise occurred at evidence in determining the correct birth date.
5.oo00
approximately 7.30 a.m. in late November), and Although the logic may seem curious, adjustments of
2.00oop.m. the following day (sunset occurred at
several months were sometimes made to account for
approximately 4.30 p.m.) one's destiny as it unfolded. Cf. W. Hartner, op. cit. n. 4
In Italian civil practice it was usual to count the hour above, p. 227. Nevertheless it is somewhat risky for us to
from sundown. But since recording a precise birth hour try to imagine now exactly which predictions would
implied an interest in plotting a horoscope, it is likely have been made.
that the hours listed in the register are of a professional s Cf. Hieronymus Cardanus, Opera omnia, Tomus
astronomical nature rather than a popular one. As Quintus: Astronomica,astrologica,onirocritica,Lyons 1663,
indicated in the text below, the corroboration of this 'Liber de exemplis centum geniturarum'.
likelihood is found in the frescoes. Further, the recorded
 ASTROLOGICAL VAULT OF THE FARNESINA o1
However, it is interesting to note that while Leo was the rising sign ofChigi's birth, the
rising sign of his conception was Virgo. It is likely that Chigi intentionally recorded both
of these signs, for together they perfectly corroborate the information recorded in the
Baptistry register. The matter of having two rising signs was a significant astrological
issue in the Renaissance. The astrologer held that the infinite variety in the destinies of
men, the dissimilar fate of twins or of children born in the same city at the same time, was
traceable to infinitesimally small differences in the moments of their births which
corresponded to slight shifts in the heavens overhead.54 The problem then was to
determine the exact moment of birth, for in addition to discrepancies in the measurement
of time, there was the difficult question of what actually constituted the moment of birth.55
The moment, according to an astrological formula, could be precisely determined from
the rising sign of conception. Moreover, it seemed to some that still more important than
birth was the real beginning at conception. For these, the ascendant of conception had an
intrinsic priority over the ascendant of birth.56 In both cases, then, the astrologer had to
determine this prior moment as well as the birth time.57
Renaissance astrologers ascertained both precise times using a rule which they traced
back to Hermes Trismegistus through Aphorism 51 of the Centiloquy,at that time ascribed
to Ptolemy.s58 Due to a wonderful circular argument, the approximate or given time of
birth could be used to calculate back to the exact moment of conception, and that moment
could then be brought forward to rectify the approximate time of birth and convert it to
the exact moment. Centiloquy51 stated:
Make the sign occupied by the Moon at the time of birth the sign ascending at the conception; and
consider that in which she may be posited at the conception, or the opposite one, as the sign
ascending at the birth.59

54 A.
Bouch&-Leclercq, L'astrologiegrecque,Paris 1899, Sphujidhvaja,2 vols, Cambridge Mass. 1978, n, pp. 237,
pp. 588-91 . 263.
ss Ibid. The examples cited by Bouche-Leclercq s7 There were several mundane methods suggested for
cannot be recorded in their full hilarity. Suffice it to say determining the moment of conception, although these
the simplest problem was that birth is not the act of one never gained wide popularity. In one, women were
moment. Therefore what counted - the birth of the encouraged to follow the example of 'Cleopatra' by
head? of the feet? the first breath? etc. etc. monitoring light cramps after coitus. In another,
56
Bouch&-Leclercq, op. cit. n. 54 above, pp. 373-83. couples truly concerned about the destiny of their
Ptolemy acknowledged both the pre-eminence of children were advised to select in advance a propitious
conception as well as the difficulty of knowing the exact moment for the carnal act, abstain for the duration of
time when it had occurred (Tetrabiblos, trs. F. E. the month, and confirm in the subsequent whether
Robbins, Loeb Classical Library, iii, i, 105-06.) conception had occurred; see Bouch&-Leclercq, op. cit.
Because he believed that nature in her wisdom always n. 54 above, p. 375. But these vulgar means could not
caused birth to occur when the heavens had reached 'a compete with the sublime mathematical formula
configuration of similar type' to that which had explained in the text below.
obtained at the moment of conception (ibid., iin, i, io6), 58 George of Trebizond and Giovanni Pontano dis-
he allowed that the moment of birth was an acceptable cussed the theory in their commentaries on
Centiloquy51.
point for charting the horoscope if the moment of Johann Angelus, Opus astrolabiumplanum, Venice 1502,
conception was unknown. Cf. Bouch&-Leclercq, op. cit. part 3, gives directions and tables for working out the
n. 54 above, p. 376, on Ptolemy's 'equivalent aspects'. formula. G. Pico della Mirandola, Disputationesadversus
(Ptolemy proceeded from this to explain his method for astrologiamdivinatricem,ed. E. Garin, Florence 1946-52,
finding the horoscope through the doctrine of Animo- IX.4, criticized the circularity of the argument and the
dar.) impossibility of its verification.
For the importance of conception in antiquity, cf. 0. s9 Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos,Extractsfrom theAlmagestand the
Neugebauer and H. B. Van Hoesen, GreekHoroscopes, Whole of the Centiloquy,trs. J. M. Ashmand, London
Philadelphia 1959, pp. 24, 28, 86, 112, 13I1; and D. 1822, pp. 229-30.
Pingree, ed., trs., commentator, The Yavanajdtakaof
102
MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH
It is to be noted that the Centiloquyspeaks only of signs and not of degrees. But the
postulate was even more strictly defined in the method of Hermes.60 There the precise
degree of the Moon at the time of birth was taken to be the exact degree which was rising
on the east approximately nine months before, and conversely the exact position of the
Moon at the moment of conception was held to be the precise degree which was rising on
the east at the birth. Once the precise degree of the rising sign at birth was known, the
precise time of birth was calculated from it. George of Trebizond, Giovanni Pontano and
numerous lesser lights devoted pages of commentary to the postulate of the Centiloquy with
the corollary of Hermes.61 In popular Renaissance handbooks the strict method of
Hermes found favour, complete with charts to determine the exact number of days and
hours that the child had resided in the womb.62
Let us apply the formula to the specifics of Chigi's birth, according to the directions
then prevalent. In the Baptistry the time is given as 29 November 1466 at 21 V/2hours.
From this the astrologer would have prepared a chart with an estimated horoscopus,
200
Leo (1400).63 He then calculated the precise position of the Moon at birth (1660),64 and
since it lay below the horizon, he would have subtracted the estimated horoscopus(1400)
from the longitude of the Moon (1660). The difference (260) would then be entered into a
table which was graduated to determine exactly the length of time that the child had
resided in utero.From the table printed in a Venetian handbook of 1502 it is perceived that
in Chigi's case this time was 39 weeks and two days.65Counting back the requisite 275
days, the astrologer would have arrived at 27 February 1466. Modern planetary tables for
that day show that the Moon really was in Leo66just as the aphorism states. Since it
followed from the formula that the sign in which the Moon was found at birth (Virgo)
would be the rising sign at the moment of conception, the astrologer would then have
calculated at what time Virgo was rising on 27 February. Because she was ascending from
4.1 1 p.m. to 6.40 p.m.67 it can be concluded that Agostino Chigi was conceived somewhat
before dinner on 27 February 1466. The stricter standard of Hermes would allow even
more precision: the Moon at Chigi's birth was at 1660, or 160 of Virgo, so that same degree
would be the horoscopus at the moment when conception occurred. Thus it can now be
divulged that Agostini Chigi was conceived at exactly 5.30 p.m. when 1660 was rising on
the east.68Conversely, the exact degree held by the Moon at 5.30 p.m. on 27 Februarywill
be the horoscopusat his birth. Modern tables locate the Moon at 5.30 p.m. at 14o0, or 200 of
Leo, which is precisely the horoscopusat 9.30 p.m. on 29 November 1466. The perfection of
this equivalency might suggest that the time of the birth as given in the Baptistry register
had already been rectified. It is more often the case that at this point in the formula the
original birth time needs to be adjusted slightly. In any case the wisdom of Hermes,
confirmed more generally by the Centiloquy, provided the astrologer with a triumphant
60
See n. 58 above. All these authors attribute the in Chigi's case these also work with the formula of
stricter application to Hermes. Angelus gives the rule of Centiloquy51. However, Angelus ignores these smaller
Hermes in its most popular format. increments of time in explaining the use of the chart. In
61
See n. 58 above. most cases they would probably not have worked, and
62 Angelus, op. cit. n. 58 above, part 3, claims that his other charts which I have seen do not include them.
chart derives from Firmicus. 66 Tuckerman,
op. cit. n. 15 above, p. 751. If the axiom
63 This
degree is computed from a Renaissance Table did not work at this point the original time was
of Houses for 420 latitude, op. cit. n. 38 above. considered to be inaccurate and the astrologer was to
64 The Moon's
position is based on Tuckerman, op. cit. rectify accordingly.
67
n. 15 above, p. 751. Computed according to the Table of Houses for 420
6s Angelus, op. cit. n. 58 above. This table actually latitude, op. cit. n. 38 above.
includes hours and minutes as well. It is interesting that 68 Ibid.
 ASTROLOGICAL VAULT OF THE FARNESINA 103
means of solving two problems. He could determine the precise time of conception. And
he could use that to convert the given time of birth to the exact birth time. The moment of
each had been determined precisely by the pure methods of mathematics and astronomy,
without reliance on the less trustworthy information provided by inaccurate astrolabes,
cloudy skies and excited parents.
It seems then that Chigi marked both his horoscoping signs through the frescoes. Leo
is acknowledged by Perseus, and specifically by the position of Algol, the head of Medusa.
In the ceiling painting, her prominence is compelling, and her astronomical position
coincides perfectly with the data recorded in the baptismal document. At the same time
the severies, and as we will see shortly, other aspects of the Villa decoration, gave the palm
to Virgo, the sign rising at the moment of his first beginning.
Before looking at the other Villa evidence which consistently points to Virgo, it is
worth noting that Chigi's decision to highlight the Maiden marks him as an astrological
purist. He must have taken Ptolemy to heart:
Since the chronological starting-point of human nativities is naturally the very time of conception,
but potentially and accidentally the moment of birth, in cases in which the very time of conception
is known either by chance or by observation, it is more fitting that we should follow it in
determining the special nature of body and soul, examining the effectivepower of the configuration
of the stars at that time.69
It is also possible that Chigi was knowingly following ancient Roman precedent.
Augustus and Tiberius used their moon signs as their horoscoping sign, and had these
engraved on their coins.70 Cicero disparaged the astrologers for the fact that they judged
the destiny of man by the Moon.7 Since antiquity, the Moon's sign, by definition, was.the
rising sign of the first beginning, or the conception.72
If we accept the information deduced from the severies and correlated in the ceiling
and the baptismal document, that Virgo was Chigi's rising sign, then this sets up certain
resonances elsewhere in the Villa. For example there is an accent in the Farnesina on
Ceres. She is pictured above Chigi's name in the principal overdoor of the main salon, the
Sala delle Prospettive (P1. 22a).73 She also figures prominently in the ceiling of his
wedding bedroom.74 And her attribute, the cornucopia, is one of three recognizable
symbols on the fagade spandrels of this loggia (P1. 22b). It seems unlikely that Chigi
picked her as a protective deity simply because of his wealth in land and in crops, for this
figured far down the financial scale after his shipping, his banking, his alum mines and his

69 The translation is again Robbins,

Ptolemy, op. cit. conception. Cf. Scaliger's edition of Manilius, Astrono-
n. 56 above, Inii,i, 105. mica, Paris 1579, p. 203 of the commentary. Refer to
70 A. E. Housman, n. 56 above for the importance of conception in
'Manilius, Augustus, Tiberius,
Capricornus and Libra', The Classical Quarterly, vii, antiquity.
1913, pp. I09, 113. Idem, Addenda to AstronomicaBookI, 73 The recent restorations in this hall uncovered Chigi's
by M. Manilius, Cambridge I937, PP. 94-95. name grandly displayed in this overdoor. See cat. exh.
71 Cicero, De La Sala delle Prospettive:Storia e restauro,ed. R. Varoli-
divinatione,iin,xliii.91.
72 Professor George Goold pointed out that the Moon's
Piazza, 1981, p. 13 and fig. 5.
74 The four inner
sign had great importance in antique Roman horo- panels of the ceiling illustrate four
scopes, often being used interchangeably with the scenes from the story of Ceres and Proserpina, and are
ascendant. He does not speculate on why it was so taken from Ovid, Metamorphoses,v.391-563. They show
important. Perhaps the confusion on whether the (a) Pluto's rape of Proserpina; (b) Ceres's search for
predictions in Manilius, Astronomica,Bk. 4 refer to the Proserpina; (c) Jupiter listening to complaints on behalf
influence of the Moon's sign or the horoscoping sign of Ceres, while she tosses the water of the Phlegethon on
resolves itself once we consider that the Moon's sign at the tattling Ascalaphus; and (d) the Sirens searching the
birth is a horoscoping sign, that is the ascendant of earth for Proserpina.
104 MARY QUINLAN-McGRATH
salt contracts. However, if we read the astrologers, an important aspect of Ceres becomes
clear: she is the patron goddess of Virgo.75 She was even identified with Virgo by some
mythographers.76It is her sheaf of grain which Virgo holds as her brightest star Spica
(P1.21 a-d). The fertility associated with Ceres may have been important to Chigi because
it counteracts one drawback to the man born under the influence of Virgo.77 He, as
Manilius tells us, will be studious and learned, eloquent and visionary, but shy and not
fertile. We do not know whether Chigi was shy, but there is a question regarding his
fertility. His first wife died childless when he was forty-two years old, and though one of
his villa poets specifically asked the gods for the blessings of progeny on Agostino, the only
children he believed he had were born out of wedlock to women of dubious repute.78Ceres
with her fruitfulness was not only Virgo's titulary deity, she may well have been seen as
the astrological antidote to Virgo's infertility.
If Virgo is indeed emphasized as Chigi's rising sign, this helps account for the
importance of Mercury in the Villa. He is paired with Ceres over the other main entry
portal into the Sala delle Prospettive which was sculpted with the Chigi shield (P1.22a).79
He, like Ceres, is featured in Chigi's wedding bedroom ceiling.80 In addition, the second
identifiable attribute in the nearly lost facade of this loggia is the caduceus of Mercury
held by a female figure (P1.22c).81 Virgo is often shown in astrological illustrations
holding the caduceus in one hand and Ceres's grain in the other (P1.21ia, c), because
Virgo is the house of Mercury and Mercury is exalted in her.82 The final attribute held by
a reclining female on the damaged facade of this loggia also belongs to Virgo (P1.22d, cf.
P1.21b, d), for it is her wheatsheaf. The exterior facade of the loggia, painted with the
symbols commonly connected with Virgo, thus introduces the visitor to the interior
content.
In his long poem of 1511 about the Villa, Aegidius Gallus, describing the nobles of the
world, said that Agostino was worthy of the highest honours due to his wonderful birth
because he is the one '. . . whom Astraea tucks away on her bright star to ascend the
difficult mountains of virtue'.83Gallus goes on to explain that because of Astraea, Chigi
established a villa for the joys of the people. Astraea, as all the mythographersconfirm, is
the primary myth for the woman raised to the stars as the constellation Virgo.84The poet
75 Manilius, op. cit. n. 35 above, 11.442. 8o Mercury appears in the panel with Jupiter, Ceres
76 and Ascalaphus, in the panel of the Judgement of Paris,
Hyginus, op. cit. n. 23 above, 11.25.
77 Manilius, op. cit. n. 35 above, Iv.189-2o2; see also and in the panel with Aglauros and Herse. He also leads
n. 72 above. off the delicate Ovidian frieze in the Sala del Fregio, and
78 Palladius, op. cit. n. 3 above, 11.437-38, is featured in two of the spandrels as part of the Cupid
Ut soboles quam'dii dederint/ tibi gaudia multum and Psyche tale in that loggia.
Augeat: et foelix foelicem turba coronet. 81 D. Coffin, The Villa in the Life of RenaissanceRome,
[May the offspring that the gods will have given you Princeton 1979, p. 98, noticed this attribute, but did not
greatly augment your joys, and may the happy throng connect it with the interior vault.
82
encircle you in your happiness.] Ptolemy, op. cit. n. 56 above, i, xvii, 38; I, xix, 42.
For the children see Cugnoni, op. cit. n. 13 above, ii, Mercury's exaltation is at 150 Virgo. Cf. n. 85 below.
1879, pp. 77-78. Chigi made the four children whom he 83 Gallus, op. cit. n. 3 above, Bk. 5, 11.26-27,
had by Francesca Ordeaschi his inheritors, though they . . . quem claro Astraea recondit
were all born before he married her. The virtue of Sidere virtutis rigidos conscendere montes.
Francesca had been questioned by the Chigi courtiers, The context for this passage is the establishment of the
including Aretino, see P. Aretino, Ragionamentodele corti, villa by Chigi.
Lanciano 1914, P. 114. Chigi claimed one other 84 Hyginus, Poetica astronomica, n.
23 above, II.25
illegitimate child by the courtesan Imperia. Manilius, op. cit. n. 35 above, 1.266, IV.542.
79 For the question of which of the two was the main
entrance door see Varoli-Piazza, op. cit. n. 73 above,
p. 13.
 ASTROLOGICAL VAULT OF THE FARNESINA 105
might thus seem to imply that Chigi's nobility is due in part to his birth under Virgo's star,
and that it is because of her that he built his estate.
Chigi and his friends may have enjoyed finding parallels between his life and character
and the predictions made by Manilius for the child of Virgo. According to the ancient
astrologer, if under the influence of Virgo as the Northern Crown is rising:
The child of the Crown will cultivate a garden budding with bright flowers and slopes grey with
olive or green with grass. He will plant pale violets, purple hyacinths, lilies, poppies which vie with
bright Tyrian dyes, and the rose which blooms with the redness of blood, and will stipple meadows
with designs of natural colour. . . . His heart is set upon elegance, fashion, and the art of
adornment, upon gracious living and the pleasure of the hour.85
This enumeration of gardens planted with violets, hyacinths, lilies, poppies, roses and
olives, became a clich6 in Cinquecento poetry for the description of villas.86 And no one
could doubt Chigi's interest in gracious living and the pleasures of the hour. If under the
influence of Virgo while Spica is rising, then:
Its son is destined to invest seed in the furrowed soil for interest, to obtain usury greater than the
principal by reaping a crop past reckoning, so that he will look in vain for barns to hold the crop.
. .. Spica will produce a man who carves panelled ceilings in the sacred temples, creating a second
heaven in the Thunderer's abode. Such ornamentation was once reserved for the gods; today it is
one of our extravagances: dining-rooms rival temples in splendour, and under a roofof gold we now
take our meals off gold.87
Considering the infamous extravagance of Chigi's banquets, the notoriety of his
famous Villa and gardens, his wealth in crops and, much more so, in the usury gained by
banking,88 the prognostications under Virgo are so attractive that one wonders in Chigi's
case if life followed astrology and produced commerce and art. Had Chigi's destiny been
differently foretold, without Virgo's influence on villas and banquets, splendid
architecture and the elegant beauties of life, might he have been content to count his
money in his old house in the Banchi?89
85sThis passage, from Manilius, op. cit. n. 35 above, Quid mille enumerem Bacchi pomaria? Quidve
v.256-61, 267-68, actually pertains to 50 Virgo and Umbrarum spaciis delapsas leniter uvas?
therefore should apply only if the looser formula of Quid violas? et utranque Rosam? Quid lilia? et
Centiloquy51 were used. However, Manilius's text was omnes
part of the Scriptoresastronomiciveteres, Venice 1499, Enumerem florum cumulos? heic vincitur Ethna
which included the Aratus, and in that text the Hyblaque, non alibi Zephiri foelicius errant.
Northern Crown was given as rising with 15' Virgo. [Why should I enumerate the thousand orchards of
86 It is particularly found in both of the Bacchus? Or why the softly fallen grapes in the
major Chigi
Villa poems. Gallus, op. cit. n. 3 above, Bk. 5, 11.170-76. promenades of shadows? Why the violets, and both
.
.sic
etiam hos florentibus agros types of Roses? Why the lilies, and why should I
Deliciis/ violis pallentibus: ac lacyntho/ enumerate all the heaps of blossoms? Etna is surpassed
Inde rosis/ et Hyla/ longoque Papavere/ odori here and Hybla, nor do the Zephyrs wander elsewhere
Munere Narcissi: et quoscunque habet optima more happily.]
Tellus Coffin, op. cit. n. 8I above, p. 68, cited this listing of
Floribus ornabis. varii officiosa Lyei flowers as a common topos for the Renaissance villa.
Vina viris adiunge: et delectantia passim Numerous antique precedents could be given for this as
Poma: vel humanae pondus grave sortis Olivas. well.
... so also you will ornament these gardens with 87 Manilius, op. cit. n. 35 above, v.273-75, 288-92.
delightful flowers, with pale violets, and with the This passage pertains to Io' Virgo. See n. 85 above.
Hyacinth, and then with roses, and with Hylas [?], and 88 Cugnoni, op. cit. n. 13 above, nii, 1879, pp. 66-68,
with the long-stemmed Poppy, with the gift of fragrant 63-65, 46, 49-52.
Narcissus, and whatever flowers the best Earth has. 89 Even the dome of Chigi's burial chapel in Santa
Add the vines that are pleasant for men with many kinds Maria del Popolo seems to play on Manilius's image
of grapes, and delicious fruits everywhere, and the (v. 288-89), for Chigi produced a panelled ceiling in the
Olives, the heavy weight of human fortune. Thunderer's abode which quite literally created a
See also Palladius, op. cit. n. 3 above, 11.233-37, 'second heaven' with its planets and zodiacal signs.

8
ASTROLOGICAL VAULT OF THE FARNESINA 17

Rome, Villa Farnesina, view of the garden loggia ceiling (pp. 91 f., 94)
 PERSEUS-utS
co
4 R
(4 Pl 71

4NS.

Villa Farnesina, scheme of the vault paintings in the garden loggia. Reproduced from F. Saxl, Lafedea
diAgostinoChigi,Rome 1934 (with slight amendments: see pp. 93-98, nn. 23-25) (pp.91-95, 98)
 b
a-hexagon showing Aries, Taurus and the planet
Jupiter (pp. 93 f.)
b-severy showing the
constellation altar (p.95)

c-hexagon showing
Sagittarius with the sun
(PP.93 f.)

d-hexagon showing Libra,

Scorpio and the planets
Mercury and Mars
C (pp.93 f.) d
a-Right ceiling panel.
Chariot/Wain (pp. 97 f.)

b-Left c
Perseus d
Medusa;
(p.98)
 /i b-Virgo, detail fromJohannes
Honter's pair ofplanispheres from 0*

Ptolemy, Opera, Basle 1541 (pp. 98,

I04)

a-Virgo, from Hyginus, Poetica

astronomica,Venice 1482 (pp. 98, 104)
1A LN

A,4
2 2; :! i

c-Virgo, from Scriptoresastronomiciveteres,Venice 1499 d-Virgo, detail from Albrecht Diirer, TheNorthernHe
(pp. 98, 104) (Bartsch vii.161.-151) (pp. 98, 104)
a-Sala delle Prospettive, entrance wall with overdoors of Mercury (left)
and Ceres (right) (pp. 103 f.) b-Facade spandrel, figure hol

cz)

cz
;zs

c-Facade spandrel, figure holding caduceus (p. 104) d-Fagade spandrel, figure hol