Wheel of Fortune (medieval)
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In medieval and ancient philosophy, the Wheel of Fortune or Rota Fortunae is a symbol of the capricious nature of Fate. The wheel belongs to the goddess Fortuna who spins it at random, changing the po
From an edition of Boccaccio's De Casibus Virorum Illustrium showing Lady Fortune spinning her wheel
Illustration by Jean Miélot to Christine de Pizan's Epitre d'Othéa; Les Sept Sacrements de l'Eglise, c. 1455 at Waddesdon Manor
Mural by Albertus Pictor in Härkeberga Church, Sweden (1480s)
Medieval mural in Kvistofta Church, Sweden
On the Consolation of Philosophy, often titled as The Consolation of Philosophy or simply the Consolation, is a philosophical work by the Roman philosopher and Christian theologian Boethius. Written i
Wheel of Fortune (medieval)
…was already a cliché in ancient times, complained about by Tacitus, but was greatly popularized for the Middle Ages by its extended treatment in the Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius from around 520. It became a common image in manuscripts of the book, and then other media, where Fortuna, often blindfolded, turns a large…
Page from a 15th century French manuscript
Miniatures of Boethius teaching and in prison from a 1385 Italian manuscript