skip to content

Astronomical Images : First motion 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 IV, seen here, illustrates the reasons given by Copernicus for the first motion of the Earth - its diurnal axial rotation. It depicts the Copernican heliocentric system with the side of the Earth furthest from the Sun shaded to indicate the absence of light. The text accompanying this image in both the <i>Atlante veneto</i> and the <i>Epitome</i> explains that Copernicus considered it more probable that the Earth (rather than the the infinitely distant <i>primum mobile</i>) rotated in twenty-four hours, creating the daily cycle and the apparent motion of the fixed stars. 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>Theorica 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>


Want to know more?

Under the 'More' menu you can find , and information about sharing this image.

No Contents List Available
No Metadata Available

Share

If you want to share this page with others you can send them a link to this individual page:
Alternatively please share this page on social media

You can also embed the viewer into your own website or blog using the code below: