Tree of Life

The Tree of Life contains ten planetary spheres, known as the Sephirot. Each sphere corresponds to some ideal Platonic quality, or aspect of the Cosmos illustrated by an image. It is based on earlier Jewish traditions that were re-interpreted in light of the Platonic Idealism of the Renaissance.

Legend has it that the Tree of Life was revealed to Moses by a priest at the royal court of Egypt. This diagram was used by the Renaissance philosophpers, such as Cornelius Agrippa, who studied the Qabalah and combined it with elements from Græco-Roman-Egyptian mysticism.

Pico Mirandola believed that Qabalah can unify Christian theology with all the different classical cultures. Hadrian had similar ideals of universal humanism and this is why he constructed the Pantheon to all gods in Rome.