Martianus Minneus Felix Capella was a jurist, polymath and Latin prose writer of late antiquity, one of the earliest developers of the system of the seven liberal arts that structured early medieval education. He was a native of Madaura.
Grammar teaching, from a 10th-century manuscript of De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii
Musica, illustration by Gherardo di Giovanni del Fora (15th century)
Naboth's representation of Martianus Capella's geo-heliocentric astronomical model (1573)
Retorica, illustration by Gherardo di Giovanni del Fora (15th century)
Liberal arts education is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. Liberal arts takes the term art in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. Liberal arts education can refer to studies in a liberal arts degree course or to a university education more generally. Such a course of study contrasts with those that are principally vocational, professional, or technical, as well as religiously based courses.
Philosophia et septem artes liberales, "philosophy and the seven liberal arts." From the Hortus deliciarum of Herrad of Landsberg (12th century)
Allegory of the seven liberal arts, The Phoebus Foundation
Page, with illustration of Music, from Marriage of Mercury and Philology
Thompson Library at Vassar College in New York
