Refined Resemblances: Three Categories of Astromagical Images in Marsilio Ficino’s De vita 3.18 and Their Indebtedness to “Abominable” Books
Lauri Ockenström
In the third book of his De vita libri tres, coelitus comparanda published in 1489, Florentine philosopher Marsilio Ficino explains pictures that ancient “astrologers and magicians” imprinted on their talismans. He distinguishes among three pictorial conventions: visual forms, imaginable characters. The passage explaining these forms serves as a prologue to chapter 18, which gives instructions for fabricating talismans speculates efficacy magical images. This article examines Ficino’s distinctions descending from tradition learned image magic, concentrating certain iconographical theoretical questions: What – what kinds did mean exemplars he base distinction classes?
Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft