Cleveland Museum of Art

Genius of the Sun (from the Tarocchi, series B: Cosmic Principles & Virtues, #31)

Master of the E-Series Tarocchi

Date

before 1467

Medium

engraving

Culture

Italy, Ferrara, 15th century

Department

Prints

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This engraving is part of the group marked with the letter “B”, and named Cosmic Principles and the Virtues , which comprises the three Universal principles or Genii (Light, Time, and Space) alongside the four cardinal virtues (Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and Justice) and the three theological ones (Faith, Hope, and Charity). The three allegorical figures of the Genii open group B and appear to be an artistic invention of the author of the Tarocchi series. Here, Iliaco (Genius or Spirit of the Sun) personifies the Sun which is thought to be the soul of the world. He is shown as a winged full-length male youth in profile, turned to left. Behind him is a distant forest. In his right hand, Iliaco holds up a sun-face. This is the second personification of the sun that appears within the set of Tarocchi, after the engraving displaying Apollo (1924.432.20) and before the one showing the sun as a star (1924.432.44).

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