Astrologia. Arte e cultura in età rinascimentale. Art and Culture in the Renaissance

This book traces the essential history of astrology from ancient times to the 15th century, when the intelligence of the Renaissance man enabled it to permeate every branch of knowledge from philosophy to religion, literature to art, medical science to magic and esotericism. In Italy, the two courts showing the liveliest interest in astrology were those of Milan and Ferrara, where the most beautiful astrological book of the Renaissance, the "De Sphaera", was conceived of and then conserved, as only one of the antiques to be found in the Biblioteca Estense in Modena, which still numbers fundamental classical, medieval and humanistic works pertaining to astrology. A heritage of manuscripts and books that revisit the texts of Egyptian, Greek, Arabic and Latin antiquity. A journey from Aratus to Manilius and Ptolemy, arriving at the prophecies of Nostradamus. Beside these can be found precious codices and an unpublished manuscript collection of the horoscopes of famous men - poets like Petrarca or rulers like Elizabeth I - which are reread by Grazia Mirti, a contemporary astrologer.