![]() ![]() They enthusiastically gathered around their teacher in front of Elsheimer’s painting. Admittedly, I was skeptical of the art historical dictum, for none of the authors had inquired into traditional knowledge cultures related to the Renaissance night sky, but rather focused on the historiography of scientific achievements around Galileo and the telescope.Īfter my close inspection of Elsheimer’s Flight into Egypt, I turned away from the painting and a group of school kids stormed into the room. The dating was embraced in the exhibition catalogue and eventually taken up by the media.Īt the time of my visit at the Pinakothek in 2018, I had read most of the publications concerning this topic. ![]() This conjecture had been formulated very cautiously by a team at the Deutsches Museum in Munich. In the context of an exhibition dedicated to Elsheimer’s painting, which took place in late 2005 and early 2006 at the Pinakothek, German media sensationalized the artwork by stating that the details of the painted night sky could be dated to a day in July 1609. However, because Elsheimer had painted the image before Galileo had even begun his telescopic observations, scholars began to suspect that Elsheimer himself had observed the night sky with one of the early telescopes. These were believed to have been conducted before the publication of Galileo’s Sidereus Nuncius in March of 1610. ![]() A friend of mine from art history-thank you Horst-had told me about the painting and the debate about its astronomical content.Įlsheimer’s detailed depiction of the night sky, especially the rendering of the Milky Way as individual stars and the shading of the moon, initially convinced art historians and specialists at the museum that his painting was based on early telescopic observations by Galileo Galilei. My visit was also motivated by the desire to see Adam Elsheimer’s 1609 painting in oil on copper The Flight into Egypt. The day before the workshop, I went to see the original painting at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, only a few minutes away by foot from the venue. I discussed it in relation to the astral beliefs and practices in Renaissance Nuremberg. In November 2018, at a workshop in Munich held at the Bayrische Akademie der Wissenschaften, I talked about Albrecht Dürer’s 1526 life-size painting in oil on limewood The Four Apostles. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |