The Celestial Globe-Southern Hemisphere
Original title: The Celestial Globe-Southern Hemisphere
kurzbeschreibung
Albrecht Dürer's woodcut of 1515 maps the southern half of the starry sky. The sheet measures 42.5 x 43.2 cm and belongs to a set of astronomical charts. Here scientific accuracy and artistic execution are joined together.
Description
A large, many-part constellation fills the middle of the image, enclosed by a ring that carries the signs of the zodiac together with their names. The figures of the constellations appear stylized, in part as animals such as fish, dog and wolf. Another large circle stands for the southern hemisphere. At the top one reads the title 'Imagines coeli Meridionales'. In the lower section are coats of arms and texts. Black and white governs the sheet, while the woodcut technique provides gradations of light and shadow.
Context
The woodcut was made in Nuremberg in 1515, when astronomical research and cartography were flourishing. Ptolemy's star catalogues served as the basis; collaboration with the astronomer Johannes Stabius is documented. The sheet belonged to a series that included the northern and southern hemispheres, and counts among the earliest printed celestial maps. The coats of arms below give clues to the patron or dedicatee.
Impact
Precise lines and a clear structure lend the sheet a calm, scientific elegance. Astronomical exactness and artistic stylization interpenetrate, making the work an eloquent testimony of the Renaissance.
Technique
The restriction to pure black and white forces the southern sky into stark, legible contrasts, where stars and constellation figures emerge as graphic signs rather than atmospheric tones. Varying density and depth of carving produce the fine hatchings and shadow gradations that give the celestial map its subtle modelling within a strictly monochrome palette.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)