It has always been a challenge for the artist to render well-established constellation figures in a creative and engaging manner within a template that is dictated by the positions of the stars. To make a chart that is both beautiful and functional, a careful balance must be achieved between the strict constraints of science and artistic freedom. Too much adornment obscures the positions of the stars, limiting practical use, while too little imagination makes the map dull and unengaging.

This section of the exhibition includes celestial charts that range from in date from the year 1532 to 1782. They trace the progression from woodcut illustration in the 16th century to the later copper plate engravings. Some reflect the more accurate celestial calculations that were guided by new scientific developments. As many cartographers and engravers referred to earlier works for inspiration, the successive styles of the constellation figures can be traced through these celestial charts.

The era of the artistic yet scientific celestial chart ended in the early 19th century because of increasing technological developments such as the proliferation of more powerful telescopes. Because the pace of celestial discoveries quickened, pictorial atlases began to include only stars visible to the naked-eye, while scientific atlases abandoned the constellation figures so as not to obscure any of the numerous new celestial bodies that needed to be charted.

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Astronomy Embellished

Many of the works in this exhibition were once bound into books on astronomy. These illustrations functioned as a visual image of what the text explained. Some of these illustrations are not simple diagrams, but elaborate, embellished representations that capture the artists' enthusiasm for astronomical concepts, events, and objects.  

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Map Makers and Making

Maps and atlases were not just for the scientific community, as they were often purchased by a literate public and the aristocracy. Numerous individuals were involved in the production of these celestial charts and atlases; the cartographer made calculations either from already published star lists or from original observations, an artistic team of a draftsman and engraver (often guided by the cartographer or publisher) drew and engraved the figures, and a publisher and printer produced the final work.

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Divining by the Stars

These astrological charts are beautiful as well as functional, a testament to their valued status and the importance of astrology in everyday life during the 16th and 17th centuries. Using the positions of the stars, the planets, the sun, and the moon, astrologers forecast the future, answered questions, and even practiced medicine based on indications derived from the heavens. By the 18th century, however, the belief in the validity of astrology had waned in scientific circles.

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Navigation and the Stars

The heavens played a crucial role in early navigation and exploration of the globe. Out of sight of land, mariners had to rely on observations of the stars and the sun to determine their latitude and to carry out complex calculations involving lunar positions for approximating their longitude.

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 Scientific Luminaries

These portraits represent a handful of figures prominent in the history of astronomy and the history of science. They range from the universally known Issac Newton to lesser known figures such as Christopher Clavius. Some, like James Ferguson, were extremely prominent in their day, but have faded from popular memory. These portraits feature a wide range of engraving techniques including copper plate engraving, mezzotint, stipple engraving, and chine collé etching.

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Harmonia Macrocosmica

Andreas Cellarius' Harmonia Macrocosmica is a compendium of astronomical information, including diagrams of theories about the structure of our planetary system and charts of the heavens. The volume contains extensive text, and includes some of the most spectacular illustration in the history of astronomy. Rich with symbolism, Cellarius' atlas features representations of mythological figures, portraits of astronomers and other historical personages embellishing the technical charts.

A historically mysterious figure, Cellarius (a Latinized version of the German surname Kneller), seems to have been born in the Palatine region of Germany, but lived and worked predominantly in the Netherlands. The title page of the Harmonia Macrocosmica identifies him as rector of a college in Hoorne, in the northern Netherlands. Even though this atlas was published by the prominent Jan Jansson (also in this exhibition), we know almost nothing else by comparison about Cellarius who produced such an amazing volume. The popularity of this volume was such that a later edition of the atlas was published in 1708 by Gerard Valk and Pieter Schenck, who conspicuously engraved their names onto Cellarius' plates.

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