id: 106367 accession number: 1924.432.24 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1924.432.24 updated: 2022-01-04 15:00:33.468000 Geometry (from the Tarocchi, series C: Liberal Arts, #24), before 1467. Master of the E-Series Tarocchi (Italian, 15th century). Engraving, hand-colored with gold; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund 1924.432.24 title: Geometry (from the Tarocchi, series C: Liberal Arts, #24) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: before 1467 creation date earliest: 1457 creation date latest: 1467 current location: creditline: Dudley P. Allen Fund copyright: --- culture: Italy, Ferrara, 15th century technique: engraving, hand-colored with gold department: Prints collection: PR - Engraving type: Print find spot: catalogue raisonne: Hind E.I. 24a --- CREATORS * Master of the E-Series Tarocchi (Italian, 15th century) - artist --- measurements: state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Lettered below the image of Geometria (Geometry): ·C·/ ·GEOMETRIA·XXIIII· /·24· translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The Silver Jubilee Exhibition opening date: 1941-06-23T04:00:00 The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941). title: Prints and Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art Collection opening date: 1965-05-06T04:00:00 Prints and Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 6-September 9, 1965). title: Early Italian Engraving: 1460's - 1530's opening date: 2002-08-25T00:00:00 Early Italian Engraving: 1460's - 1530's. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 25-October 27, 2002). title: Gods and Heroes: Ancient Legends in Renaissance Art opening date: 2017-08-26T04:00:00 Gods and Heroes: Ancient Legends in Renaissance Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 26-December 31, 2017). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: This engraving is part of the group “C” named Liberal Arts. Conceptually, the liberal arts descended from classical antiquity, and were divided into the Trivium (Grammar, Rhetoric, and Dialectic or Logic) and the Quadrivium (Music, Geometry, Arithmetic, and Astronomy). In the Tarocchi set the total number was risen to ten, with the addition of the three disciplines (Poetry, Philosophy, and Theology). The liberal arts denoted knowledge or skills considered necessary to participate in a free society. By the late Middle Ages, they began to be represented in the visual arts as womanlike allegories.

Here, Geometria (Geometry) is personified as a half-length pregnant female figure in profile, hovering in clouds above an imaginary landscape. She draws a square, triangle, and circle in the sky with her right hand.

The identifying letter at the lower left corner of the print was originally an “E,” which was corrected by the engraver to a “C.” wall description: Conceptually, the liberal arts descended from classical antiquity, and represented knowledge or skills considered necessary to participate in a free society. These four personifications of liberal arts are from a set of 50 engravings depicting philosophical concepts and elements of the world. Although they are called Tarocchi, the prints differ from traditional tarot cards in that they were more likely devised by a humanist scholar for educational purposes. Philosophy appears as Athena, goddess of war and wisdom; her shield bearing Medusa’s head could turn any opponent into stone. Poetry sits crowned with a laurel wreath next to a Greek Castalian font, believed by poets to be a source of inspiration. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1924.432.24/1924.432.24_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1924.432.24/1924.432.24_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1924.432.24/1924.432.24_full.tif