Philosophy Consoling Boethius and Fortune Turning the Wheel (Main View (.1.verso) / book image source)
Coëtivy Master
The J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, United States
At the left, Philosophy, personified as a fashionably dressed young woman, visits Boethius, who had lost his exalted position as Roman envoy. She asks him why he is despondent, saying, "you are wrong if you think that Fortune has changed towards you. Change is her normal behavior." On the right, Fortune, a beautiful woman, spins her wheel, which represents the changes she brings about in men's lives. A king sits on top of the wheel, but a simple turn of the wheel can bring him down in station while it raises the fortunes of another. Philosophy demonstrates that Fortune rules the world and that the wise person ignores her ever-shifting ways, preferring eternal truths.
- Title: Philosophy Consoling Boethius and Fortune Turning the Wheel (Main View (.1.verso) / book image source)
- Creator: Coëtivy Master (Henri de Vulcop?)
- Date Created: about 1460–1470
- Location Created: Paris, France
- Physical Dimensions: Leaf: 7.3 × 17 cm (2 7/8 × 6 11/16 in.)
- Type: Detached leaf
- External Link: Find out more about this object on the Museum website.
- Medium: Tempera colors, gold leaf, and gold paint on parchment
- Terms of Use: Open Content
- Number: 91.MS.11.1.verso
- Culture: French
- Credit Line: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. 42, leaf 1v
- Creator Display Name: Coëtivy Master (Henri de Vulcop?) (French, active about 1450 - 1485)
- Classification: Manuscripts (Documents)
Additional Items
Get the app
Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more
