Hello Jurgen,
I discussed Job's "mermaid" (Losbuch Ms. germ. fol. 642) You are not allowed to view links.
Register or
Login to view.:
In my opinion, the image actually represents a man: Jonah emerging from the whale. This is confirmed by examining the other images of this Zodiac cycle: each image includes the Zodiac sign, labors of the month and a biblical scene.
I don't know the origin of the text, but it clearly is astrological and describes the destiny of people born in the different signs: "Et homo natus in Piscibus amabilis erit, multum ambulabit, honesta vita tractabit, erit officiosum et officia sua erunt grata" - "And the man born in Pisces will be amiable, will travel much, will lead a honest life, he will be active and his actions will be appreciated".
I just noticed that this specific association of Biblical episodes with zodiac signs seems to derive from Bede (You are not allowed to view links.
Register or
Login to view., 16):
Aries, Abraham, because of the ram that was sacrificed to God instead of his son
Taurus, Iacob, who, like a bull, fought against the angel on mount Bethel
Gemini, Adam and Eve, because in paradise they were made from a single body.
Cancer, prophet Job, because he had cancer.
Leo, Daniel, who was in the lion's den
Virgo, Maria, who had a son and remained a virgin.
Libra, Iudas Scarioth, who weighted with scales the price of the Saviour
Scorpio, Pharao, who was submerged in the sea because of his greed.
Sagittarius, David, who fought against Goliah
Capricornus, Esau, who lost his bliss for eagerness to hunt and for goats
Aquarius, Ioannis Baptistae, who baptized the Saviour in the river Jordan
Pisces, Ionas the prophet, who remained in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights
(Bede confirms the "mermaid" as Jonah “Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. ” - Book of Jonah, 1,13).
The You are not allowed to view links.
Register or
Login to view. does not represent Adam and Eve. It illustrates Augustine's You are not allowed to view links.
Register or
Login to view.: the Earth generating the pagan gods (who, according to Augustine, were just people).
“What can more manifestly favor them who say that all those gods were men? For they are earth-born in the sense that the earth is their mother”.
The animals do not seem to be mentioned in Augustine's text, and they possibly were introduced by analogy with illustrations of the Biblical creation of the world: the similarity with illustrations of the Book of Genesis does not seem accidental to me.