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This illustration is based on the "Daemon of Science and Judgment" as depicted in Dr. Aquino's Diabolicon:
"Attend now to me, for I am Asmodeus, who train the mind in
recognition and comparison, and who am Daemon of science
and judgment."
This view does have historical precedence. Johann Wier describes this daemon in his 1583 Pseudomonarchia daemonum:
"he absolutelie teacheth geometrie, arythmetike, astronomie, and handicrafts."
But Dr. Aquino has introduced refinements, for the head of the daemons declares:
"For we would not have him view
mechanism alone as the hallmark of his progress" for
The head of the daemons knows each daemons's limitations:
And so other Daemons' endeavors complement Asmodeus' efforts to bring about humanity's evolution.
I sought out a variety of sources before beginnning my illustration. Collin de Plancy illustrated Asmodeus in 1818.
But what a hideous creature he is! As might be expected for the Archbishop of Paris to approve his portrait! But elsewhere, he "was widely depicted as having a handsome visage, good manners and an engaging nature" according to Wikipedia source Maximilian Rudwin.
For my illustration, I wanted a handsome visage. To begin, I assembled a variety of reference photos:
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I was surprised when I finished the line drawing to see a young daemonic woman smiling back at me! Did using my own features for the grin result in that? However I'm amused for Wikipedia's source, the Fantastic library at Cornell, from which Plancy's image was sourced, declares the daemon of "discovery and of ingenious inventions" "often takes the form of a young woman"!
Sources on Asmodeus:
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