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| Keywords: Wheel-fortune-ages-of-man-theophilus-wm-de-brailes-c1240.jpg William de Brailes The original is at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge ms 330 f 4 Fortuna sits enthroned in the middle turning her wheel while roundels at the outer ring of the image show figures at the conventional four positions Clockwise from left a youth ascending says 'I am borne again to the stars'; at the top a seated king says 'I exalt on high'; at the right a falling figure laments 'Reduced I descend'; at the bottom a dying figure says 'Lowest I am ground by the wheel' Inside the outer ring are twelve half-roundels These show twelve ages of man from infant at the bottom-left clockwise through senescence and finally death at the bottom-right Inside that cycle are eight more half-roundels with scenes from the life of Saint Theophilus the Penitent His story begins at the top-right where the humble archdeacon declines election to bishop Moving clockwise he subsequently changes his mind and makes a Faustian bargain to reclaim the post shown at the bottom of the wheel Later still he repents and the Virgin Mary appears to intercede for him and he dies redeemed at the topmost image The three cycles illustrate the life of man as shaped by fortune by time and by choice Scanned from Imagining Childhood by Erika Langmuir Creator William de Brailes 1240 PD-old-100 PD-1996 William de Brailes 13th-century illuminated manuscripts Leaves from divided illuminated manuscripts Allegories Wheel of Fortune Ages of man Christian saints in art Hagiography Fortuna | ||||
