17 November 2004

The Idea Of Order

      At left: Didacus Valades' 1579 rendering of the Great Chain of Being from his Rhetorica Christiana. Valades was the first Mexican to have a book published in Europe. Notice the direct access to Hell for the fallen angels, as if they were suddenly jettisoned down a laundry chute.

      It's a fascinating image, and a hard one to find on the Net in any degree of legible detail. (There's a larger version of the image you can peruse by clicking on the pic.) But dare any of us ponder a hierarchy so elaborately laid out, so ordered, that doesn't seem like an artificial-- to say nothing of arbitrary-- series of assignations?

      And, yes, in case you are wondering: I am playing with images a lot to today. I am allowed. Don't make me throw any of you down any laundry chutes....  

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