The Angel of the Eighth Sphere (from the Tarocchi, series A: Firmaments of the Universe, #48)

This engraving is part of the Tarocchi group marked with the letter “A”, and named <em>Firmaments of the Universe</em>. This series comprises the seven planets from the classical astronomy (Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) and the three celestial spheres that separate them from the Supreme Entity (<em>Prima Causa</em>) from which everything was originated.

Here, <em>Octava Spera</em> (Eight Sphere or the Angel of the Eight Sphere) is personified as a full-length winged figure, turned to left, and holding up a starry sphere in its hands. This stationary angel embodies the firmament as a fixed pattern of stars, which according to Ptolemaic thought was believed to revolve around the planet earth.