BYU

Harold B. Lee Library

Art and Astronomy in the Age of Galileo

Derek Jensen, Curator of European Books, L. Tom Perry Special Collections

  • Time: 3:00 PM
  • Date: Thursday, February 24, 2005
  • Place: DeLamar Jensen Lecture Room, 1130 HBLL


About the Event

Recent scholarship on astronomical activity in the seventeenth century points to the role of princely patronage in shaping what was studied and to what end. In England, gentlemanly codes of conduct that defined proper presentation and acceptance of observations could also shape scientific activity. The lavish artwork in the engravings of the Prussian astronomer Johannes Hevelius (1611-1687) points to different social structures and cultural motivations that shaped his work, namely, the structures of local city government and the motivations of civic pride. I will reinterpret Hevelius’s astronomical work by looking closely at his art, his city surroundings and his expressed motivations.