(23-09-2026, 11:49 AM)Koen G wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.About the inspiration being from non-zodiac sources: it's possible, of course, but this wouldn't be my first guess. Why scrape together a Zodiac series when examples are all around? But I agree there must have been cross-pollination between Zodiac art and non-Zodiac art, and both are subject to the same whims of fashion, both in clothing and art style.
I think a process of:
"What is the virgo sign?" -> "Virgo is a virgin/youthful woman" -> "I'll draw a virgin/youthful woman" -> "Copy a typical virgin/youthful woman based on works I've seen (including potential zodiac sequences)"
has some potential credit for virgo and gemini in particular. I think many of the examples found probably fit into that category to some degree.
Signs based on animals may also apply similarly in some cases, as their description boils down to "is this animal". Signs like sagittarius and capricorn get muddier. The fact that they both have multiple wildly different traditions -yet each of those traditions also has many similar copies across centuries- probably suggests that there was a mix of "draw this description" vs "copy this example" going on.