The Pentacles

Athens 115 · Seal 20

Broad brackets end the four arms of a cross, leaving a narrow margin inside its circular boundary. [1]

Delatte 1927, printed historical edition; Athens MS 115 · Delatte I (1927), printed p. 20, row 3, column 2; phylactery passage p. 18, Athens MS 115, Book II, ff. 17–18.

Pentacle profile

Tradition and Group: Greek Solomonic tradition · Athens MS 115 [1]
Position within the Set: 20th design in the catalogue; unnumbered in Delatte’s edition. [1]
Attributed Purpose: Part of the twenty-four-seal phylactery carried at the chest in preparation for the art of the circle. [1]
Design: Four broad bracket-shaped ends terminate an upright cross inside the circle. [1]

Four broad bracket-shaped ends terminate an upright cross inside the circle. — **Source reproduction** A cross with broad brackets. Delatte, 1927, p. 20.

A cross with broad brackets

An upright cross has a broad bracket at the end of every arm. The top and bottom brackets lie horizontally; those at the left and right are turned vertically. Their short end strokes bend away from the central crossing. [1]

The brackets stop inside the circular boundary, leaving a narrow margin. Unlike seal 1, this design has neither paired terminal bars nor small loops at their tips. [1]

The chest-worn phylactery

The figure occupies the centre of the third row on page 20. Delatte’s Greek text places the seal group below names on the phylactery. Both the names and the drawings belong to the object worn at the chest during preparation for the art of the circle. [1]

Sources and editions

A. Delatte, Anecdota Atheniensia I
Delatte 1927, printed historical edition; Athens MS 115. Manuscript B (Athens MS 115): introductory description, printed pp. 1–2; Book II, phylactery passage p. 18, lines 19–27 (ff. 17–18); twenty-four seals pp. 19–20; this drawing p. 20, row 3, column 2. Facsimile PDF pp. 14–15 and 31–33.
The drawing appears in Delatte’s 1927 edition of Athens MS 115.