Dürer’s celebrated celestial map of the northern hemisphere, including portraits of four classical authorities on astronomy: Arab astronomer Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi, Ptolemy Egyptus, Marcus Manilius from Syria, and Aratus
DÜRER, Albrecht. [with Johannes STABIUS and Konrad HEINFOGEL].
[Imagines coeli septentrionales cum duodecim imaginibus zodiaci].
[ca. 1515]. Map and leaf size ca. 43.5 x 42.5 cm. Woodcut map of the northern hemisphere in its second state, with Dürer's monogram. The map depicts all known constellations in the northern hemisphere in great detail, resulting in an intricate map in which all constellations can be clearly identified upon close inspection. According to Ptolemaic tradition the twelve signs of the Zodiac are displayed on the northern hemisphere and are to be read counter-clockwise. That is, as seen from space, or as they would appear on a celestial globe. The constellation figures are therefore shown from their back view. Dürer decorated the four corners of the northern chart by portraits of four ancient authorities, dressed in their assumed national dress, each holding a celestial globe: Aratus representing the Greek, Ptolemy the Egyptian, Al-Sufi the Islamic, and Marcus Manilius the Roman tradition of astronomy.
Mounted in a gold-coloured frame (67.5 x 67.5 cm), in white passe-partouts with a gilt line directly framing the map on the inside of the passe-partouts. Full description
€ 750,000
[ca. 1515]. Map and leaf size ca. 43.5 x 42.5 cm. Woodcut map of the northern hemisphere in its second state, with Dürer's monogram. The map depicts all known constellations in the northern hemisphere in great detail, resulting in an intricate map in which all constellations can be clearly identified upon close inspection. According to Ptolemaic tradition the twelve signs of the Zodiac are displayed on the northern hemisphere and are to be read counter-clockwise. That is, as seen from space, or as they would appear on a celestial globe. The constellation figures are therefore shown from their back view. Dürer decorated the four corners of the northern chart by portraits of four ancient authorities, dressed in their assumed national dress, each holding a celestial globe: Aratus representing the Greek, Ptolemy the Egyptian, Al-Sufi the Islamic, and Marcus Manilius the Roman tradition of astronomy.
Mounted in a gold-coloured frame (67.5 x 67.5 cm), in white passe-partouts with a gilt line directly framing the map on the inside of the passe-partouts. Full description
