Astronomical Images : The Sabbath from the Creation (celestial orbs and spheres)

Hartmann Schedel

Astronomical Images

<p style='text-align: justify;'>The <i>Liber chronicarum </i>(better known as the <i>Nuremberg Chronicle</i>) was compiled by Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514), a physician and humanist from Nuremberg and a graduate of the University of Padua. It was published in both Latin and German versions, and comprises a survey of the six ages of the World from Creation to the Last Judgement. Whilst the text relies heavily on earlier sources, especially the <i>Supplementum chronicarum</i> of Jacob Philip Foresti of Bergamo (Venice, 1483), the work is famous for its many illustrations (over 1800), and for its series of panoramic views of Europe's major cities. The woodcuts were designed by the artists Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. Art historians have suggested that Albrecht Duerer (the godson of Anton Koberger who printed the text) may also have been involved in the creation of several images whilst serving his apprenticeship under Wolgemut. The process of the production of this volume is unusually well documented. Schedel's own copy of the <i>Liber chronicarum</i> has survived at the Bavarian State Library, Munich. The original sketches, layout design and contracts between the work's sponsors and its artists are also extant. The opening sequence of woodcuts illustrates the seven days of Creation, with an arresting series of images of increasing concentric circles which draw heavily on contemporary visual representations of the Universe, in particular those in printed editions of Sacrobsosco's <i>Sphaera mundi</i>. A similar series can be found Foresti's <i>Supplementum chronicarum</i>. Many copies - but not this one - were coloured by hand. This image represents the seventh day of Creation. It builds on the image used to depict the fourth day in the series, but this time each of the elemental and aethereal spheres is clearly labelled. In this version of the celestial spheres, the twelve signs of the zodiac replace the myriad fixed stars in the <i>firmamentum</i>. Two further spheres are depicted: the crystalline heaven (<i>coelum cristallinum</i>) and the Empyrean, where God, enthroned, presides over the hierarchy of angels. The names of the nine orders of angels are listed (seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominations, principalities, powers, virtues, archangels and angels). The four cardinal winds (Subsolanus, Auster, Aparctias, Zephyrus) are shown in each corner.</p>