Abstract
Abstract On 10 April 1654, Duke August the Younger of Braunschweig-Lüneburg celebrated his 75th birthday. Three days later the occasion was celebrated at the Wolfenbüttel court with a masquerade entitled Der Natur Banquet, conceived and organized by August’s wife, Duchess Sophie Elisabeth of Braunschweig-Lüneburg. This article focuses on the opening of Der Natur Banquet, a procession of seven celestial bodies with accompanying music. Investigating the characteristics of these celestial bodies as described in contemporary astrological sources, I demonstrate that visual and aural rhetoric worked in tandem to display the political power and virtue of the duke and his dynasty. The article investigates the affective links between the astrological characteristics of each celestial body and the instruments used with it, and explores the possible influence of ‘Die Tugendsterne’ by Georg Philipp Harsdörffer and Sigmund Theophil Staden.
Published Version
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