Santa Maria delle Grazie

It was here at Santa Maria delle Grazie that the mathematician, astrologer and scientist Jerome Cardano was watching The Last Supper. Years later when he visited the convent again, he was amazed at how blurred and colourless the once-vivid fresco had become. His father was a lawyer in Renaissance Milan and counted Leonardo da Vinci among his associates. As a child, Cardano sat on da Vinci's floor while the adults talked philosophy, law and culture. At that time, it was not a contradiction to be an astrologer and a scientist. It is known that Jerome Cardano presented to pope Paul III a horoscope of the Son of God. That was not a good idea. Although Pope Paul III could appreciate this type of stories, his successor Pius V outlawed the practice of astrology. The Inquisition pobably arrested him for this fact in 1570. After a few months of incarceration, Cardano was released to house arrest. He had to pay a significat lump sum to the church for his "freedom" and had to keep his mouth shut.

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| | Publiek | Nederlands