Genius of the Sun (from the Tarocchi, series B: Cosmic Principles & Virtues, #31) (before 1467): Art, History and Details

Genius of the Sun (from the Tarocchi, series B: Cosmic Principles & Virtues, #31) (before 1467) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Master of the E-Series Tarocchi (Italian, active 1460s).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This engraving is part of the group marked with the letter “B”, and named Cosmic Principles and the Virtues, which comprises the three Universal principles or Genii (Light, Time, and Space) alongside the four cardinal virtues (Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and Justice) and the three theological ones (Faith, Hope, and Charity). The three allegorical figures of the Genii open group B and appear to be an artistic invention of the author of the Tarocchi series. Here, Iliaco (Genius or Spirit of the Sun) personifies the Sun which is thought to be the soul of the world. He is shown as a winged full-length male youth in profile, turned to left. Behind him is a distant forest. In his right hand, Iliaco holds up a sun-face.

Object facts

• Title: Genius of the Sun (from the Tarocchi, series B: Cosmic Principles & Virtues, #31)
• Date: before 1467
• Creator attribution: Master of the E-Series Tarocchi (Italian, active 1460s)
• Culture: Italy, Ferrara, 15th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1924.432.31

A detail from the museum

This is the second personification of the sun that appears within the set of Tarocchi, after the engraving displaying Apollo (1924.432.20) and before the one showing the sun as a star (1924.432.44).

Collection credit

Dudley P. Allen Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.