The bizarre history of the astrological vault “El Cielo de Salamanca”

Abstract

In the cloister of the Patio de Escuelas Menores of Salamanca, there is a mural known as El Cielo de Salamanca ( The Sky of Salamanca) depicting some Ptolemaic constellations, the Sun and Mercury. It is part of a painting (c. 1483–86) that was hidden for a century and a half. Rediscovered in 1901, it was moved to its current location in 1953. Those who visited it shortly after its completion describe it as a magnificent astrological vault. However, in 1960, Zinner stated that the mural was a representation of the celestial vault of an August day in 1475. This interpretation has been taken as a fact ever since. Here it is shown that it is a speculative proposal with many inconsistencies. The authors consider that the painting is an iconographic representation with astrological motifs depicting the planets in their houses or domiciles according to the Tetrabiblos. Based on this new interpretation, consistent with what was taught in Salamanca at that time, the article proposes what the original painting may have looked like.