The Secret Zodiac

In the Florentine basilica of San Miniato al Monte is a thirteenth-century marble zodiac. Over many years Fred Gettings unravelled the mysteries of its construction. In this book, originally published in 1987, he shows that the church was designed according to an extraordinarily significant astrological schema and embodies the mediaeval Church’s desire to refute an influential contemporary prophecy of the coming of the Anti-Christ. The Secret Zodiac shows how all the occult devices of the mediaeval artist are employed in San Miniato – from a ray of light which falls twice a year upon a particular symbol, to a message concealed in code in a Latin inscription set near to the zodiac itself. The author uncovers and explains the importance of all these arcane symbols and relates each to the general and occult philosophy of the time. He concludes that San Miniato is probably the last surviving church to have been designed by initiates with a profound and explicit knowledge of astrology and hermetic lore. The book will be of interest to art historians, occultists, hereticists and mediaeval historians.