Diebold
Schilling recorded the comet of 1456 in the Lucerne Chronicles,
Fol. 61v. 1508-1513. The comet was blamed for the birth of two-headed
animals, people with Down’s Syndrome, earthquakes, illness, and red
rain, all of which are portrayed in his picture. Pope Callixtus III
excommunicated the comet as an instrument of the devil.
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