Renaissance magic
Paulus Ricius
Paolo Riccio · Paul Ritz
A Jewish convert to Catholicism, physician to Maximilian I, who in 1516 published the first Latin version of a kabbalistic classic — part of Gikatilla's Sha'arei Orah, as Portae Lucis.
- Dates
- flourished born in Germany, date unknown
- Dating
- known by activity
- Died
- Italy
The life
Baptised in Italy about 1505, professor of philosophy at Pavia from 1506, body physician to the Emperor at Augsburg from 1514, later ennobled.
Place in the tradition
This is the hinge of the whole crossing, and it is worth being exact about which way it turns. The book this site reads for the divine names on the Jewish tree is the book a convert translated in order to argue Jews into Christianity, and its title page carries what is probably the first printed diagram of the sefirot.
a note on the record
History and later legend
The Jewish Encyclopedia, which is old enough to quote, puts the motive plainly: 'Like most converts from Judaism, Riccio attempted to convince the Jews of the truth of the Gospels.' The translation is partial and free rather than complete and literal.
the written record
Principal works
-
Augsburg, 1516
Portae Lucis
De Porta Lucis R. Josephi Gecatilia
A free Latin translation of part of Sha'arei Orah, and the book through which Christian Europe first read a kabbalistic classic in its own language. Its title page shows a man holding a tree of ten spheres — probably the first printed image of the sefirot. It is deliberately not linked to the Sha'arei Orah Text here: the Text is Gikatilla's book, and this is a partial translation of it made for another purpose.