A golden sun at the centre and the earth set turning

Plate 4 sets out the Copernican universe flat on the page: a small sun at the very centre, ringed by close orange and gold rays, with the orbits of Mercury, Venus, the earth with its moon, Mars, Jupiter with its four moons and Saturn drawn as widening lettered circles. Two seated scholars occupy the lower corners — one turbaned, resting a hand on a globe, the other in rose with dividers and an armillary sphere. The corners of the sheet are filled with scrolling acanthus in rose, teal and gold. This copy is distinguished by its zodiac band, a ring of soft violet cloud carrying the twelve signs, and by the strong pink of the corner scrollwork.

Andreas Cellarius (c. 1596–1665) was a German-born Dutch cartographer and schoolmaster who spent most of his working life as rector of the Latin school in Hoorn. In 1660 the Amsterdam publisher Johannes Janssonius issued his Harmonia Macrocosmica, a folio atlas of twenty-nine engraved plates that set the competing world systems of Ptolemy, Copernicus and Tycho Brahe beside charts of the constellations and the motions of the planets. It was the last great decorative celestial atlas of the Dutch golden age, and its hand-coloured plates — dense with putti, banners and allegorical figures — were reissued by Gerard Valk and Pieter Schenk in 1708. Copies are held by the Library of Congress, the Universiteitsbibliotheek Amsterdam and the Royal Astronomical Society.

Printed as a museum-grade giclée on Hahnemühle fine art paper using 12-ink archival pigment printing. Available handframed in FSC-certified wood with optional float glass, or unframed. Ships worldwide with free delivery to 30+ countries.