| The Introductorium maius in astronomiam by the Arabic astronomer Abu Ma'Sar (787-886) was translated into Latin by Hermann of Dalmatia between 1140 and 1143. Parts of this translation were illustrated by Georgius Zothorus Zaparus Fendulus in the late 12th or early 13th century. Six copies of Fendulus's illustrated abridgment, produced between 1220-40 and ca. 1500 (Bibliotheque Nationale de France, lat.7330, lat.7331, lat.7344, and Smith-Lesouef 8; British Library, Sloane 3983; and the Pierpont Morgan Library, M.785) demonstrate the place of music in the astrological context and provide guides for the decoding of its symbolism.;The first part of Fendulus's abridgment illustrates Abu Ma'sar's description of the astrological systems related to the zodiacal signs: the Greek firmament based on the writings of Ptolemy (sphaera graecanica), the Indian system of decans by Varahamihira (sphaera indica), and the system of Teukros (sphaera barbarica). Associated with music are the second and third decans of Gemini, the second decan of Cancer, and the first decan of Capricorn as well as the constellations of Perseus, Hercules, Amphion, Satyr, Idol, Musa, and Bridemif. The second part of the abridgment interprets the planetary influences, among which Venus and Mercury are associated with music.;A total of 148 instruments depicted in all six manuscripts provides evidence of (1) the development of instruments (harp, harp-psaltery, delta psaltery, rectangular psaltery, lute, hurdy-gurdy, fiddle, rabel, mandora, rebec, pipe, shawm, pipe and tabor, trumpet, tambourine, kettle drum, and cymbals); (2) technical characteristics and variants of instruments used in regions where the manuscripts were produced (southern Italy, the Low Countries, Paris); (3) performance practices; and (4) the terminology for instruments.;The first chapter of the dissertation introduces the cultural background of Fendulus's manuscripts. The following three chapters discuss the music-related images and their symbolism found in the three astrological systems related to the zodiacal signs, as they are inherited from antiquity, transmitted to Indian and Arabic astrology, and finally developed in the West until the end of the Renaissance. In the fifth chapter, the iconography of Venus and Mercury in the Arabic sources is explored, along with the roles which Fendulus and Michael Scotus played in the development of the Western iconography of the planets, and the artistic genres which originated from the iconography of the planets (the planet's children, the garden of love, the occupations of the months). The final chapter considers the cultural and organological significance of the illustrations in Fendulus's abridgment and demonstrates how medieval astrological and mythological traditions were not a direct extension of antiquity, but a newly created conglomerate concept rooted both in Eastern and Western sources. |
