AUTORBIS.net created 2003 - 2005       

Lazzarelli's Row of the Muses
- identical to the row of the Mantegna Tarocchi and the row of Fulgentius

Lazzarelli used in his De Gentilium Deorum Imaginibus (ca. 1471) 27 figures, first the Spheres group (Mantegna Tarocchi Nos 50 - 41), which is followed by Musica (Mantegna Tarocchi No 26) and then the first book ends. The second book starts with Poetry (Mantegna Tarocchi No 27), and then the Muses+Apollo-series starts (Mantegna Tarocchi Nos 20 - 11). The both series ("Lazzarelli 1-11 = Spheres plus Musica" AND  Lazzarelli 12-22 "Poetry plus Apollo + 9 Muses") seem to mirror each other. Then 5 gods are added : Athena (which is later used as Philosophia, Mantegna Tarocchi No. 28), Juno, Pluto, Neptun and Victoria (4 figures, which are unknown to the Mantegna Tarocchi). As a mathematical composition Lazzarelli seem to see a group of 11 (or 10+1) elements paired with a second group with also 11 (or 10 + 1) elements, and an additional group with 5. The idea to combine Musica with the group of the 10 spheres seem to have been inspired by Pythagorean ideas, in which spheres also are connected to music. Poetry - in Lazzarelli's interpretation - seem to reign the world of Apollo and the 9 Muses. As Lazzarelli must be considered surely as a poet and, perhaps, also as a singer, his representation shows till this point inner logic.

MUSIC No 50 No 49 No 48 No 47 No 46 No 45 No 44 No 43 No 42 No 41
5 added
figures
POETRY No 20 No 19 No 18 No 17 No 16 No 15 No 14 No 13 No 12 No 11


Lazzarelli uses the same row of Muses as the Mantegna Tarocchi, although his short chapters to each figure follow, slightly variated, only the descending order 20-11. During our studies we became aware of 2 other different contemporary orders of Muses, one of Franchino Gaffurio (1494) and another of Marsilio Ficino (1469 or little later) and we started to explore, if we could find the origin of these orders. John Meador was successful and could identify 2 of them: the Lazzarelli/Mantegna order as from Fulgentius (see below) and the Gaffurio order as from Martianus Capella (see at this page). It was not possible to find an earlier source for the Muses order of Marsilio Ficino, who combined a series of forms of Bacchus to his order, but Taylor, one of our sources, assumed, that Marsilio took his order from Proklus (see this page for details). In three rows in comparition:

Spheres Mantegna
Tarocchi
Ficino
to spheres
Gaffurio
to spheres
Primo Mobile 11 Caliope
Soul of the world Caliope
Eight Sphere 12 Urania Urania Urania
Saturn 13 Terpsicore Polymnia Polyhymnia
Jupiter 14 Erato Terpsicore Euterpe
Mars 15 Polimnia Clio Eratho
Sun 16 Talia Melpomene Melpomene
Venus 17 Melpomene Erato Terpsicore
Mercury 18 Euterpe Euterpe Caliope
Moon 19 Clio Thalia Clio
Earth Thalia

Row of the Muses after Fulgentius

Mariken Teeuwen in Harmony and Music of the Spheres: The Ars Musica in Ninth-Century Commentaries On Martianus Capella, 2002 finds to the following:

"A similar allegory of Apollo and the nine Muses as representatives of the human voice is found in Fulgentius, Mythologiae I15. Fulgentius, however, describes 10 elements of the human voice: 9 for the Muses, and the 10th for Apollo himself. His order of the Muses is also different. In his myth Clio [8 in the Capella order / 19 in the Mantegna-Tarocchi] comes first, as the will to be taught. Euterpe [3 / 18] is the second Muse, as the delight in that which is wanted. Third comes Melpomene [5 / 17], the pursuit of that in which delight is found. Talia [9 / 16] is next, as the ability to grasp what was pursued. Polynmia [2 / 15] is put in fifth place, and she symbolizes the ability to remember what was grasped. Erato [4 / 14] is the act of finding similarities to that which is remembered. Terpsichore [6 / 13] is the ability to judge that which was found, Urania [1 / 12] to select that which was judged and, finally, Calliope [7 / 11] is the eloquent presentation of that which was selected."

It's easy to verify, this this order is different from the Cappella-Ramis-Gaffurio version, and also it's possible to identify this row from Fulgentius with the identical rows of Lazzarelli and of the Mantegna-Tarocchi. "The Mitologiae in particular served as a basic compendium of mythology, influential both in its own right and through its absorption into the work of the so-called Third Vatican Mythographer, now generally identified as a certain Master Alberic of London.", so informs this internet page to Fulgentius.

Fulgentius row is very similar to the row of Muses in the English translation of Hesiod's Theogony, surely the oldest known text to the Muses: 5 positions are identical, No 16 with No 17 and No 13 with No 15 are exchanged, perhaps the difference goes back to a simple writing (or translation) error.

"From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing, who hold the great and holy mount of Helicon, and dance on soft feet about the deep-blue spring ... These things, then, the Muses sang who dwell on Olympus, nine daughters begotten by great Zeus, Cleio (19) and Euterpe (18), Thaleia (16), Melpomene (17) and Terpsichore (13), and Erato (14) and Polyhymnia (15) and Urania (12) and Calliope (11), who is the chiefest of them all, for she attends on worshipful princes: whomsoever of heaven-nourished princes the daughters of great Zeus honour, and behold him at his birth, they pour sweet dew upon his tongue, and from his lips flow gracious words." (source)

(autorbis in cooperation with John Meador)


One of 9 Muses, which are said to have been combined with Apollo and Athena and shown in a small side-room in the palace of Urbino (late 15th century by Giovanni Santi and Timotheo Viti). Perhaps a reflection of the Lazzarelli manuscript, which also was found in Urbino? In the manuscript Apollo, the 9 Muses, and Athena were presented as the figures 13-23.

Timothy Viti was the brother of Pier Antonio Viti, who was in the 90ies involved in the production of the Boiardo deck, Giovanni Santi was the father of Raffaello, who also painted Muses in a fresco (1509).