Astronomical Images : Motions of the Earth according to Copernicus

Vincenzo Maria Coronelli

Astronomical Images

<p style='text-align: justify;'>In his <i>Atlante veneto</i> of 1690, Vicenzo Coronelli (1650-1718) included a discussion of the world systems of Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Tycho Brahe. Accompanying this discussion of the 'Sistemi del mondo' were nine figures, presented together on a single bifolium (Plate 9); these figures were later reproduced in Coronelli's <i>Epitome cosmografica</i> (1693), where they were each printed onto a separate sheet. Figure III, seen here, represents the motions of the Earth according to Copernicus. It displays the Earth as a planet in motion on the zodiac, represented as an annular band around a central image of the Sun. Direct precursors to this image can be found on world maps such as the 1660 map of Frederick de Wit. The inclusion of planetary models in these cosmographical works reflects the development of the genre in the early modern period. In attempting to describe the Earth in relation to the heavens, cosmographical texts often borrowed from the diagrammatic tradition of medieval spherical astronomy; for instance, the nested-sphere diagrams representing the heavens and the terrestrial Elements according to Aristotle. Planetary models, however, typically belonged to the tradition of <i>theoricae planetarum</i>; the depiction of world systems in Coronelli's texts therefore reflects the increasing scope of cosmography to include elements of planetary as well as spherical astronomy.</p>