On view in the Cushing Rotunda, September 4, 2026 – February 22, 2027
Curated by L. R. Phillips, Ph.D., Curator for Visual Arts
Signs of Time is a story about “the science of the stars” in the Renaissance: a cross-cultural prognostic practice that brought celestial events to bear on interpretations of time, from seasonal cycles and courses of illness to calendar reform and biblical chronology. At the center of the story are the remarkably stable graphic traditions attached to this practice, which rendered astronomical time intelligible, narratable, and consequential for earthly experience.
Showcasing an extraordinary array of rare books and early printed works from the collections of the Medical Historical Library, the exhibition asks: What celestial phenomena counted as signs of time? How were those signs read and recorded? And who had the authority to interpret them? From the politics of prognostication to the physics of planetary influence, Signs of Time presents a unique chapter in Renaissance history: when medical, theological, and geopolitical interests converged around efforts to understand, organize, and claim authority over time through the science of the stars.