The zodiac is an area of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The paths of the Moon and visible planets are also within the belt of the zodiac.
In Western astrology, and formerly astronomy, the zodiac is divided into twelve signs, each occupying 30° of celestial longitude and roughly corresponding to the constellations Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.
The zodiac system was developed in Babylonia, some 2,500 years ago, during the “Age of Aries”. At the time, it is assumed, the precession of the equinoxes was unknown. Contemporary use of the coordinate system is presented with the choice of interpreting the system either as sidereal, with the signs fixed to the stellar background, or as tropical, with the signs fixed to the point of vernal equinox.
Western astrology takes the tropical approach, whereas Hindu astrology takes the sidereal one. This results in the originally unified zodiacal coordinate system drifting apart gradually, with a clockwise (westward) precession of 1.4 degrees per century.
For the tropical zodiac used in Western astronomy and astrology, this means that the tropical sign of Aries currently lies somewhere within the constellation Pisces (“Age of Pisces”). Reference: Wikipedia
![[Delamarche, Charles Francois. 1740-1817.] Ptolemaic Armillary Sphere.](https://antiqueastrology.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/zodiac-sphere.jpg)
[Delamarche, Charles Francois. 1740-1817.] Ptolemaic Armillary Sphere. [Paris: c.1800.] With a small 2 inch diameter earth-ball at the center, the black and white printed gores slight restored, surrounded by sun and moon discs on metal quadrants, and a series of pasteboard circles (the equator tropics and plane of the ecliptic), each with a green painted face, the reverse with a engraved papered surface, all joined by a equinoctial and solstitial colure and surrounded by a planar zodiac band. The armillary structure, diameter 12 inches (30 5mm), mounted on an ebonised wooden stand with central column and turned wooden base. Slight rubbing and scratches on some surfaces. Overall height 18 inches (460 mm). An attractive late 18th century French Ptolemaic armillary sphere (i.e., with the earth at the center of the cosmos) of the Delamarche School. The 18th century French globe makers such as Vaugondy and Delamarche were adept at producing these scientific instruments which were both decorative and functional, just as English globe makers of this period specialized in pocket globes for the use by gentlemen
Sold for US$ 2,500 (£ 1,927) inc. premium at Bonhams in 2018
Diagram, showing a globe, surrounded by circle with symbols of the twelve signs of the zodiac; illustration to an almanach; proof. Wood-engraving
Print made by: Thomas Bewick
Reference: © The Trustees of the British Museum
HANS SEBALD BEHAM (1500-1550) The Seven Planets with the Zodiacs the set of seven engravings, circa 1539, on laid paper, without watermarks, very good, clear impressions, Holl. 121-122 first state (of four or five), Holl. 116-120 second state (of four or five), each trimmed on or just outside the platemark, lacking the title plate (Holl. 115), generally in very good condition Sheets 44 x 29 mm. (and similar) (7)
Sold for USD 4,750 at Christies in 2017
Swedish Armillary Sundial with Zodiac Stand A.B. Aronsson & Soner Height 29 1/2 inches.
Sold for $406 (includes buyer’s premium) at Doyle New York in 2015
Tiffany Studios Zodiac Gilt Bronze Picture Frame
Sold for $700 at Joshua Kodner in 2019
The Zodiac of Dendera
The famous Zodiac of Dendera confounds today’s visitors who may look for a reflection of modern-day astrological beliefs. This bas-relief actually represented a night skyscape, on the ceiling of a chapel in the Temple of Hathor at Dendera, where the mysteries of the resurrection of the god Osiris were celebrated.
This sandstone slab comes from the domain dedicated to the goddesses Hathor and Isis at Dendera. It was part of the ceiling of one of the chapels where the resurrection of Osiris was commemorated, on the roof of the great Temple of Hathor. The vault of heaven is represented by a disc, held up by four women assisted by falcon-headed spirits. Thirty-six spirits or “decans” around the circumference symbolize the 360 days of the Egyptian year. The constellations shown inside the circle include the signs of the zodiac, most of which are represented almost as they are today. Aries, Taurus, Scorpio, and Capricorn, for example, are easily recognizable, whereas others correspond to a more Egyptian iconography: Aquarius is represented as Hapy, the god of the Nile flood, pouring water from two vases. The constellations of the northern sky, featured in the center, include the Great Bear (Ursa Major) in the form of a bull’s foreleg. A hippopotamus goddess, opposite Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, represents the constellation of the Dragon.
Reference:The Louvre
Basin with Zodiac Signs and Royal Titles
late 13th–early 14th century Attributed to Egypt or Syria
Reference: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Brass astrolabe from Persia, 1710 Made 1710 An astrolabe is an instrument formerly used to make astronomical measurements, especially of the altitude of celestial bodies, and as an aid to navigation. In its earliest form (which dates from earliest time) it consisted of a disc with the degrees of the circle marked round its edge, and a pivoted pointer along which a celestial body could be sighted. From late medieval times it was used by mariners for calculating latitude, until replaced by the sextant.
Reference: Museum of Applied Art and Sciences
The Twelve Olympian Gods, with Signs of the Zodiac, Aphrodite From a series of Twelve Olympian Gods, with Signs of the Zodiac German Johann Georg Bergmüller (German, 1688–1762)
Reference: Museum of Fine Arts Boston
A SET OF TWELVE CHINESE PAINTED POTTERY STANDING ZODIAC FIGURES, YUAN / MING DYNASTY each taken from the same mold and distinctively painted in polychrome pigments, loose robes cloaking the body and a cap atop the head, the hands positioned in front of the chest holding an individually sculpted zodiac animal, the feet planted on an integral square base, the hollow interior fired to an orange hue. 12 pieces. height 6 3/4 in.; 17.1 cm
Sold for 10,625 USD at Sothebys in 2019
The Two Females of the Zodiac; After Raphael; Engraving print on paper; Engraved by Marcantonio Raimondi; Italian School; ca. 1490-1534.
Reference: © Victoria and Albert Museum
Diagram of the Zodiac
The zodiac is the belt of twelve constellations through which the seven planetary bodies–the Sun, the Moon, and the five known planets–appear to pass during the course of a year. This wheel-shaped diagram shows the Earth at center, surrounded by the names of the months, the corresponding twelve signs of the zodiac, and an inscription explaining the relationships among the seven planetary bodies, the constellations of the zodiac, and the passage of time and its cyclical nature. Because it is the only illustration in this manuscript depicted on a blank page and the sole illustration that includes detailed, extensively colored figural imagery, the zodiacal diagram serves both as a frontispiece to the manuscript as a whole, and as an overview of the scientific and theological ideas presented in it. The signs of the zodiac were developed in the ancient Near East as navigational aids and entered the medieval repertoire through the intermediary of classical art. Although Greco-Roman traditions of representation carried considerable authority, medieval depictions of the zodiacal signs often departed from their classical models. Here, the twins of Gemini are portrayed not as nude youths but as armed, mail-clad soldiers carrying a single shield. Rather than eight legs and two claws or pincers, the scorpion of Scorpio has the wings of a bird or dragon and a pair of long, curving necks, each terminating in a snake-like head.
Reference: The Walters Art Museum
