Wednesday 28 May 2014

The Face of Fortune - Black & White

Artist Unknown, 16th Century Italian
Inspired by Petrarch (1304 –1374) Remedies for Fortune Fair and Foul a self-help book which remained popular for hundreds of years. Fortune is shown as woman with a face half white half black. Petrarch saw fortune or luck being either good or bad, too much of either was not good, one should strive for a balance seeing them as equal.

The Wheel of Fortune

The Wheel of Fortune (Lady Fortune and her Wheel). Ascending and downward movement of Fortune which, in human life, has the power to make men kings or make them fall into misfortune. Miniature from "Remedies for Fortune fair and foul" ("De remediis utriusque Fortunae") by Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) (1304-1374), 1503. BN, Paris, France (Photo by Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/the-wheel-of-fortune-ascending-and-downward-movement-of-news-photo/587493764