Concept of Fortuna in the Collection of Biographies «De Casibus Virorum Illustrium» by Giovanni Boccaccio

Abstract

The cult of the goddess Fortune dates back to ancient tradition. In the Middle Ages the allegorical image of Fortune remains popular in literature and everyday life. Authors such as Augustine of Hippo, Boethius, Dante Alighieri and Giovanni Boccaccio used in their works the allegorical image of Fortune, which has special verbal and visual characteristics. The main attention in this paper is focused specifically on the study of Fortune symbolism in the collection of biographies «De Casibus Virorum Illustrium» by G. Boccaccio. In the preface to the collection the humanist outlined the task he set for himself. It consisted in depicting the misfortunes, difficult and fatal fates of legendary and famous figures in history from Adam and Eve to the writer Fr. Petrarch he was contemporary with. In the biographies it is constantly emphasized that Fortune can be unpredictable. The text of «De Casibus Virorum Illustrium» is full of negative characteristics of Fortune, which repeatedly emphasize her fickleness and treachery. The visual representation of Fortuna also has negative connotations, which creates a formidable halo around the allegorical figure. In G. Boccaccio’s description, Fortune appears as a tall woman with a stern look and a gloomy face. On miniatures of the 15th century the goddess is depicted with closed eyes, wings (sometimes multi-armed), a staff, the Wheel of Fortune (Rota Fortunae) or a ship’s rudder. It is important that the characteristics of the humanist do not include the attributes of the goddess of fate. They appear later on miniatures for translations of G. Boccaccio works, which indicates the process of formation of iconographic tradition around the image of Fortune (by the 15th century the Wheel became its main attribute). The collection «De Casibus Virorum Illustrium» was supposed to serve as a warning about the changeability of fate for influential contemporaries of G. Boccaccio and subsequent generations. In the system of that time ideas, following the cardinal virtues of Christian theology (prudence, justice, courage, temperance) guaranteed the favor of Fortune.