Cleveland Museum of Art

Genius of Time (from the Tarocchi, series B: Cosmic Principles & Virtues, #32)

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, Chronico (Genius of Time) is personified as a full-length winged male youth in profile, turned to left. Behind him is a forest. In his right hand, Chronico holds up a dragon biting its own tail, an emblem of for “all-devouring Time.”

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