History of Monsters. 297

To conclude, for the image of Fury, Cartari depicts a man of terrifying appearance with a blood-stained face, sitting upon helmets, shields, and swords, with his hands bound behind his back. To represent Terror—whom the ancients called a companion of Minerva because he is ever-present in war—the same author followed the ideas of the ancients by figuring him as a menacing boy with a face that changes at will, and endowed with many hands. Others, however, believed that Terror should be painted as a boy with a lion’s head, while still others fashioned him as a boy with the face and dress of a woman, but with a horrifying expression.

To these, as a finishing touch, the image of Fortune must be added. Her icon was that of a blind, naked, winged woman, partially bearded, standing with her feet upon a globe, holding a golden horn in her left hand and a scepter in her right. Everything contained in this image is explained in these most elegant verses:

“Painter, did Fortune appear to you as a woman?” “She did.” “Why? Because she is as fickle and fleeting as a woman’s whims.” “Is she a goddess, pray tell?” “A goddess known throughout the world.” “Why does she stand upon a globe?” “She is as unstable as flowing water.” “Why did you paint her blind?” “She does not see those she blesses, Nor those she harms.” “Why is one part bare, and the other full of a beard?” “Because both sexes are subject to her feet.” “Why naked?” “Because, without a second thought, she gives away Everything she has, down to her very skin, to both boy and elder.” “And why winged?” “Whoever is carried by her favor Soars from a lowly place to the stars.” “But why have you taken away the foundation for her feet?” “So that the things she brings may be stabilized by no base.” “Why does her left hand carry a gold-tressed horn, and her right a scepter?” “The former signifies wealth, the latter power.” “Let your mind be free to paint whatever you wish; for when You call her Fortune, she might as well be a Chimera.”

Anyone who desires to know more of this kind should consult the *Iconologia* of Cesare Ripa, a man of the highest learning. There, one may gaze with great pleasure upon the images of the World, the Elements, Rivers, Winds, the four seasons of the year, the four parts and regions of the World, and indeed the year, months, days, hours, ages, temperaments, dignities, triumphs, sciences, faculties, and all the arts, as well as the Muses, virtues and vices, the five senses of the body, various affections of the soul, and finally the beginning and end of life.

#### CELESTIAL IMAGES

Now it remains to consider those images among the stars which, according to the minds of astronomers, appear to represent the human form. Because the constellations reflecting the human figure appear mixed and intertwined among other celestial icons of brutes and inanimate objects, we must pick out from all those listed the ones that serve our history. Here, then, is the order of the stars: the two Bears face away from each other with their tails turned, while between them the winding Dragon glides. Beneath the foot of one is Ophiuchus (the Serpent-Bearer), whose feet touch the forehead of the Scorpion. At his side stands Bootes (the Bear-Watcher), and beneath his feet Virgo appears with an ear of grain in her hands. Behind her footsteps lies Leo, and in the midst of the summer solstice are Cancer and Gemini. The knees of the Charioteer touch the head of Gemini, and his feet are joined to the horns of Taurus. The Kids are nearest to the Great Bear, which on the right, near the Crown, holds the serpent in the hands of Ophiuchus; there also is Hercules, who with his left foot appears to trample the north dragon’s sum-