Liber Physiognomiae
The Liber Physiognomiae is an Italian miscellany of medieval astrological treatises from ca. 1440, the author, artist, and scribe of which remains unknown. This exquisitely illuminated manuscript is concerned with astrology and medicine in the Middle Ages and contains gorgeous pictures of watercolors. Using the positive and negative character traits of the zodiac symbols, it served as a tool for divination that also contained various articles, tables, and two astrolabes concerning the calendar, movement of heavenly bodies, and their effects on humanity including medical considerations. Counted among these are medical-astrological essays by Pietro d’Abano and interpretations of the biblical dreams of prophet Daniel. It likely originated as a commission of Marquis Leonello of Ferrara, who was a member of the rich, art-patronizing House of Este and may have originated in Ferrara or Padua. The dreamy watercolors adorning the text are reminiscent of the style of Antonio Pisanello, although his connection to the manuscript is unclear.
Liber Physiognomiae
The so-called Liber Physiognomiae is a collected volume dealing with the astrology and medicine of the Middle Ages. The hand-written text contains 72 lavishly illustrated pages, which are divided into various thematic areas. The book contains two astrolabes, this astronomical instrument consists of two concentric discs equipped with pointers, which turn within two outer circles divided into 360 degrees. The signs of the zodiac and the months of the year are displayed on these fixed circles. The interesting and insightful work belongs among the most beloved codices of the famous Biblioteca Estense Universitaria in Modena.
The Beginnings of Humanism in Italy
The Liber Physiognomiae was used in 15th century Italy as an instrument for the interpretation of the future. The positive and negative character traits associated with the various zodiac signs are described in the astrological manuscript. Other articles deal with the individual days of the week, the four seasons, the zodiac and its planets, as well as the influence of the moon and the tables depicting the months of the year. In the middle and closing sections of the work there is a commentary on the works of Pythagoras. A particularly interesting passage addresses a biblical story about the dreams of the prophet Daniel. Here, astrological symbols were combined with traditional elements from the interpretation of dreams. The medicinal advice of Pietro d’Abano is also interesting. The manuscript delightfully documents the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, from faith and superstition to science and research.
Superb Painting
The pages of the precious manuscript show high-quality depictions in dreamy watercolors. Its pictures are reminiscent of the painting style of the artist Antonio Pisanello, a trailblazer of the Renaissance in Northern Italy. However, it has never been clarified whether Pisanello was actually the creator of the manuscript. The Marquis of Ferrara, Leonello d’Este, is believed to be the patron and the ruling House of Este was one of the richest noble families in Italy and produced some of the greatest art patrons of the Renaissance.
Codicology
- Size / Format
- 72 pages / 29.3 × 21.5 cm
- Origin
- Italy
- Date
- 1440
- Epochs
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Illustrations
- 72 richly illuminated pages, two sheets with flat astrolabes, and movable hands for finding one's horoscope
- Patron
- Leonello d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara (1407–50)
- Artist / School
- School of Pisa
Liber Physiognomiae
Leo
Each page dedicated to a zodiac symbol has a bas-de-page miniature, a lovely pen and ink watercolor drawing created with a masterful hand. Holding a Globus in his right hand, the personification of Leo is shown as a crowned king sitting in flowing robes on a wheeled throne and flanked by two lions. The two other figures are dressed as young nobles with the young man on the left being particularly fashionable, wearing a garish red hat, tights, and boots.

Liber Physiognomiae
Astrolabe
This astrolabe is the most important feature of this manuscript because it is the instrument used for interpreting the future. It consists of two concentric discs with pointers, which are in turn placed within two circles divided into 360 degrees. These fixed circles display the signs of the zodiac and corresponding months of the year in neatly-written black and red ink.
Despite its generally secular character, the Renaissance was a period during which the line between superstition and science was blurred as scholars sought all-encompassing knowledge – a universal truth. Although the page itself is only a tattered fragment, its most important elements have survived in miraculously good condition, including the sun’s shimmering gold leaf.

#1 Liber Physiognomiae
Languages: English, Italian, German, Spanish
- Treatises / Secular Books
- Apocalypses / Beatus
- Astronomy / Astrology
- Bestiaries
- Bibles / Gospels
- Chronicles / History / Law
- Geography / Maps
- Saints' Lives
- Islam / Oriental
- Judaism / Hebrew
- Single Leaf Collections
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Literature / Poetry
- Liturgical Manuscripts
- Medicine / Botany / Alchemy
- Music
- Mythology / Prophecies
- Psalters
- Other Religious Books
- Games / Hunting
- Private Devotion Books
- Other Genres
- Afghanistan
- Armenia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Colombia
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- France
- Germany
- Hungary
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Serbia
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uzbekistan
- Aboca Museum
- Akademie Verlag
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA)
- Aldo Ausilio Editore - Bottega d’Erasmo
- Alecto Historical Editions
- Alkuin Verlag
- Almqvist & Wiksell
- ARS
- Ars Magna
- ArtCodex
- AyN Ediciones
- Azimuth Editions
- Bärenreiter-Verlag
- Belser Verlag
- Belser Verlag / WK Wertkontor
- Bernardinum Wydawnictwo
- BiblioGemma
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vaticanstadt, Vaticanstadt)
- Bibliotheca Palatina Faksimile Verlag
- Bibliotheca Rara
- Boydell & Brewer
- Brepols Publishers
- British Library
- C. Weckesser
- Caixa Catalunya
- Canesi
- CAPSA, Ars Scriptoria
- Caratzas Brothers, Publishers
- Circulo Cientifico
- Club Bibliófilo Versol
- CM Editores
- Collegium Graphicum
- Collezione Apocrifa Da Vinci
- Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses
- Coron Verlag
- CTHS
- D. S. Brewer
- De Agostini/UTET
- De Schutter
- Deuschle & Stemmle
- Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft
- DIAMM
- Droz
- E. Schreiber Graphische Kunstanstalten
- Ediciones Boreal
- Ediciones Grial
- Edilan
- Editalia
- Edition Leipzig
- Edition Libri Illustri
- Editiones Reales Sitios S. L.
- Éditions de l'Oiseau Lyre
- Editions Medicina Rara
- Editorial Casariego
- Editorial Mintzoa
- Editrice Antenore
- Edizioni Edison
- Egeria, S.L.
- Eikon Editores
- Electa
- Eos-Verlag
- ET&B
- Eugrammia Press
- Extraordinary Editions
- Facsimile Editions Ltd.
- Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG
- Faksimile Verlag
- Folger Shakespeare Library
- Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
- Fundación Hullera Vasco-Leonesa
- G. Braziller
- Gebr. Mann Verlag
- Giovanni Domenico de Rossi
- Giunti Editore
- Graffiti
- Grafica European Center of Fine Arts
- Guido Pressler
- Guillermo Blazquez
- Helikon
- Henning Oppermann
- Herder Verlag
- Hes & De Graaf Publishers
- Hoepli
- Houghton Library
- Hugo Schmidt Verlag
- Idion Verlag
- Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
- ILte
- Imago
- Insel Verlag
- Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses
- Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia
- Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani
- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
- J. Thorbecke
- Jugoslavija
- Karl W. Hiersemann
- Kasper Straube
- Kaydeda Ediciones
- Kurt Wolff Verlag
- La Liberia dello Stato
- La Linea Editrice
- La Meta Editore
- Lambert Schneider
- Leo S. Olschki
- Les Incunables
- Libreria Musicale Italiana
- Lichtdruck
- Lumen Artis
- Lund Humphries
- M. Moleiro Editor
- Maison des Sciences de l'homme et de la société de Poitiers
- Manuscriptum
- Maruzen-Yushodo Co. Ltd.
- MASA
- McGraw-Hill
- Militos
- Millennium Liber
- Müller & Schindler
- National Library of Wales
- Nova Charta
- Odeon
- Orbis Mediaevalis
- Orbis Pictus
- Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
- Oxford University Press
- Parzellers Buchverlag
- Patrimonio Ediciones
- PIAF
- Plon-Nourrit et cie
- Prestel Verlag
- Princeton University Press
- Prisma Verlag
- Priuli & Verlucca, editori
- Pro Sport Verlag
- Propyläen Verlag
- Pytheas Books
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern
- Reales Sitios
- Reichert Verlag
- Riehn & Reusch
- Roberto Vattori Editore
- Rosenkilde and Bagger
- Roxburghe Club
- Salerno Editrice
- Sarajevo Svjetlost
- Schöck ArtPrint Kft.
- Scolar Press
- Scrinium
- Scripta Maneant
- Scriptorium
- Siloé, arte y bibliofilia
- SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo
- Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología
- Stainer and Bell
- Styria Verlag
- Sumptibus Pragopress
- Szegedi Tudomànyegyetem
- Tarshish Books
- Taschen
- Tempus Libri
- Testimonio Compañía Editorial
- The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership Limited
- The Facsimile Codex
- The Folio Society
- The Marquess of Normanby
- The Richard III and Yorkist History Trust
- Tip.Le.Co
- TouchArt
- Trident Editore
- Typis Regiae Officinae Polygraphicae
- University of California Press
- University of Chicago Press
- Urs Graf
- Vallecchi
- Van Wijnen
- VCH, Acta Humaniora
- VDI Verlag
- Verlag Styria
- Vicent Garcia Editores
- Wiener Mechitharisten-Congregation (Wien, Österreich)
- Xuntanza Editorial
- Zollikofer AG