Since time immemorial, people have been concerned with the universe, the starry sky and the role that the Earth plays in the cosmos. Over centuries, various world systems were developed and then rejected by scientists: From the geocentric worldview of antiquity, which Claudius Ptolemy developed mathematically, to the heliocentric worldview created by Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler. These world views were also taken up and aesthetically processed in art. Probably the most famous collection of such representations is the "Harmonia Macrocosmica", a richly illustrated celestial atlas with artwork by Andreas Cellarius.
Andreas Keller or Andreas Cellarius, as his Latinized name is, was a German astronomer, mathematician and cosmographer active in the Baroque period. He spent most of his life in the Netherlands, where he probably began his work on the Celestial Atlas as early as the 1620s. The production of globes and precise maps already had a long tradition in the Netherlands, and so it was a Flemish printer, Johannes Janssonius, who published the "Harmonia Macrocosmica" in 1660 as a supplement to his "Atlas Novus absolutissimus". This marked the completion of the atlas of the earth and the heavens, which had already been planned by the famous cartographer Gerhard Mercator. In the atlas, the development of the world views and systems of Claudius Ptolemy, Nicolaus Copernicus and Tycho Brahe can be found on highly elaborately designed and colored copper plates. In addition, the atlas features a further eight copper plates depicting constellations according to Christian and classical interpretations.
In 1708 the atlas was published again, this time by the publishers Gerard Valk and Petrus Schenk. There, the extensive text sections that were still found in the first publication were omitted. This edition is today in the possession of the German Museum in Munich. Today, the Star Atlas is not only considered one of the most spectacular works of art in the history of astronomy, it is also often referred to as the "Cellarius Atlas". And even though the works are outdated from an astronomical point of view, they still testify to great artistic craftsmanship and display a poetic visual language. Some of the engravings from the book are even exhibited in the form of large-format metal panels for wall decoration in the Kopernikusstraße subway station in Hanover.
Beyond his best-known work, other engravings and engravings by him have survived, which deal with astronomy and the work of scientists, for example "Astronomers look through a telescope", as well as work on Christian motifs, for example "Peter deny Christ". Cellarius also published "Architectura Militaris," a work on fortress construction, in 1645, as well as "Regni Poloniae," a regional geography of Poland, in 1652. The thematic diversity of his publications makes him a typical scholar of the Baroque period. In memory of Andreas Cellarius, the asteroid 12618 Cellarius was named after him in 2008.
Since time immemorial, people have been concerned with the universe, the starry sky and the role that the Earth plays in the cosmos. Over centuries, various world systems were developed and then rejected by scientists: From the geocentric worldview of antiquity, which Claudius Ptolemy developed mathematically, to the heliocentric worldview created by Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler. These world views were also taken up and aesthetically processed in art. Probably the most famous collection of such representations is the "Harmonia Macrocosmica", a richly illustrated celestial atlas with artwork by Andreas Cellarius.
Andreas Keller or Andreas Cellarius, as his Latinized name is, was a German astronomer, mathematician and cosmographer active in the Baroque period. He spent most of his life in the Netherlands, where he probably began his work on the Celestial Atlas as early as the 1620s. The production of globes and precise maps already had a long tradition in the Netherlands, and so it was a Flemish printer, Johannes Janssonius, who published the "Harmonia Macrocosmica" in 1660 as a supplement to his "Atlas Novus absolutissimus". This marked the completion of the atlas of the earth and the heavens, which had already been planned by the famous cartographer Gerhard Mercator. In the atlas, the development of the world views and systems of Claudius Ptolemy, Nicolaus Copernicus and Tycho Brahe can be found on highly elaborately designed and colored copper plates. In addition, the atlas features a further eight copper plates depicting constellations according to Christian and classical interpretations.
In 1708 the atlas was published again, this time by the publishers Gerard Valk and Petrus Schenk. There, the extensive text sections that were still found in the first publication were omitted. This edition is today in the possession of the German Museum in Munich. Today, the Star Atlas is not only considered one of the most spectacular works of art in the history of astronomy, it is also often referred to as the "Cellarius Atlas". And even though the works are outdated from an astronomical point of view, they still testify to great artistic craftsmanship and display a poetic visual language. Some of the engravings from the book are even exhibited in the form of large-format metal panels for wall decoration in the Kopernikusstraße subway station in Hanover.
Beyond his best-known work, other engravings and engravings by him have survived, which deal with astronomy and the work of scientists, for example "Astronomers look through a telescope", as well as work on Christian motifs, for example "Peter deny Christ". Cellarius also published "Architectura Militaris," a work on fortress construction, in 1645, as well as "Regni Poloniae," a regional geography of Poland, in 1652. The thematic diversity of his publications makes him a typical scholar of the Baroque period. In memory of Andreas Cellarius, the asteroid 12618 Cellarius was named after him in 2008.
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