WINTHROP COLLECTION
Veritas Proscenium (1621)
Robert Fludd
The cosmologist and physician Robert Fludd resisted the growing scientific temper and rationalism of his age. His beliefs were firmly rooted in the occult traditions of astrology, alchemy, chiromancy, the Jewish Kabbala and alchemy. A devoted member of the Rosicrucian Fraternity, he maintained a rather cavalier attitude toward the medical establishment. In his time he was attacked as "an evil magician."
Fludd composed Veritatis proscenium as a response to an attack by Johannes Kepler. A lively discussion between the two men on the nature of the universe went back and forth for several years. Kepler, it has been said, dealt in demonstrated measurements, Fludd in enigmas, symbols and analogies.
In his writings Fludd describes the "music of the spheres," a theory originating with Pythagoras. He concluded that just as the pitch of notes depends on different vibrations, so planets moving through the heavens at different rates must have different sounds. Since all things in nature are harmonious, these sounds must also harmonize.
The theory captured the imagination of the time.
". . .then listen I
To the celestial Sirens' harmony,
That sit upon the nine infolded Spheres
And sing to those that hold the vital shears
And turn the Adamantine spindle round,
On which the fate of gods and men is wound."
JOHN MILTON
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