Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy in Art

In this volume from the popular Guide to Imagery series, the author presents a careful analysis of occult iconography in many of the great masterpieces of Western art, calling out key features in the illustrations for discussion and interpretation.

Astrological symbols decorated medieval churches and illuminated manuscripts as well as fifteenth-century Italian town halls and palaces.

The transformational symbology of magic and alchemy that enlivened the work of a wide range of Renaissance artists, including Bosch, Brueghel, Dürer, and Caravaggio, found renewed expression in the visionary works of nineteenth-century artists, such as Fuseli and Blake, as well as in the creative output of the twentieth century's Surrealists.