Pisces (Folio 70v) and the New Year on the 1st of March in the Republic of Venice

[nablator]

There are 38 slices.  What does that mean?

The image of the constellation is set in the middle of a wheel or ‘rota’, the rueda, with the stars marked as small dots on the figure (fig. 2). Information about each star position within the figure of the constellation, its magnitude, latitude and longitude, and its features according to its dominant planets (hot and dry, or cold and wet), is specified in radial strips of text running from the central image to the edge of the rota. Therefore, instead of using an independent table to list this data, as one sees in al-Sūfī manuscripts, the rueda itself becomes the table. This type of wheel is a visual scheme frequently used in Alfonsine scientific manuscripts, becoming a very efficient formula of combining text and visual information.

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