Star Lore around the World Uranography Art Work related to Constellations

This is the astronomy section of the Star Lore Around the World project. Click here to get the the introduction.

For as long as people organized stars into constellations, there have been tales about them. And for as long as there have been tales, there have been artistic expressions of those constellations. The tradition of celestial cartography, also called uranography, dates back to prehistorical expressions (like the Nebra Sky Disk to the right), Mesopotamian clay tablets and the ceilings of Egyptian tombs.

The first comprehensive collections of artwork depicting constellations were several illustrations to the works of Germanicus, a Roman general and writer who in 4 AD wrote a Latin version of Aratus's Phainomena, an introduction to the constellations in poetic form. Most prominent of these early uranographies was the Leiden Aratea (left), but there were a lot of other publications based on Germanicus' work.

With the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, a number of of quite elaborate pieces of art (like Albrecht Dürer's woodcuts of both hemispheres (see above) reached a large audience. Probaly the most popular set of star charts was Urania's Mirror (right), a set of star charts showing the constellations of the northern hemisphere, first published in 1824.

All these early works were based on the "traditional" or "western" constellations. In recent years, dedicated artists around the world have taken steps to preserve the star lore of other cultures, such as Native American or Australian Aboriginal. The picture of uranography around the world would not be complete without those collections (left).

Here is a list of our collection of uranographic art work. All pictures were copied from public domains and all sources are properly quoted. If you hold a copyright to any of the material used and want it to be removed from this site, please contact me at judy-volker@judy-volker.com.

2nd Cent. AD

The Farnese Atlas A marble statue, showing the oldest existing depiction of the ancient Greek constellations.

ca. 650

The Five Agents of the Sky Paintings from the Chinese Tang Dynasty, depicting the five planets as mythical, immortal yet human-like characters.

816

Leiden Aratea One of the oldest illuminated copies of an astronomical treatise by Roman general and poet Germanicus.

964

Al-Sufi's Book of Fixed Stars An illustrated synthesis of the comprehensive star catalogue in Ptolemy’s Almagest with the indigenous Arabic astronomical traditions on the constellations.

ca. 1000

Aberystwyth Folios A different set of illustrations to Germanicus' treatise.

mid 1300s

Alfonsine Tables A 14th century illustrated version of the Alfonsine Tables - the first star tables of Renaissance Europe.

ca. 1400

Constellation Cycle Illustrations of the 48 constellations of the Books of Wisdom by King Alfonso X; done by an unknown English artist.

ca. 1400

German Farmer's Calendar A popular medieval leaflet, showing the Zodiac signs, the amount of daylight and a typical farming tasks for each month.

1411

The Book of the Birth of Iskandar An illustrated horoscope showing middle eastern interpretations of the Zodiac.

mid 1400s

Pergamenthandschrift M II 141 A 15th century copy of the original illustrations of the Alfonsine Tables.

1482

Erhard Ratdolt's edition of Poeticon Astronomicon The first printed and illustrated edition of Hyginus’s Poeticon Astronomicon was published by German printer Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482.

1482

De Astronomica Another version of Hyginus' De Astronomica; illustrated by an unknown artist.

1512

Constellation Calendar A set of woodcuttings of the constellations and the known planets by an unknown artist, based on descriptions given by German astronomer Regiomontanus.

1515

The Planispheres of Albrecht Dürer Dürer's woodcuts for planispheres of the constellations of both hemispheres were the first printed star charts of the West.

1533-1540

The Planispheres of Petrus Apianus Inspired by Dürer, Apianus created a star chart combining Ptolemaic and Arabic features, followed by one of the most elaborate early star charts.

1590+

More Planispheres Over the centuries, many artist followed the trend started by Dürer. Here are some examples, created between 1590 and 2018.

1603

Uranometria Consisting of 50 copperplate engravings, Johann Bayer's Uranometria was the first star atlas showing the entire sky.

1624-1628

The star maps of Bartsch and Habrecht Two starch maps showing seven new constellations - though only two of them would pass the test of time.

1627

Coelum Stellatum Christianum In an attempt to replace the "pagan" constellations with Christian ones, Julius Schiller created 53 constellations based on Biblical characters and themes.

1633

Manuchihr Globe Commisioned by Manuchihr Khan, this celestial globe is an outstanding example of the Golden Age of Islamic astronomy.

1641

Uranometria Hand Colored A hand-colored version of the original Uranometria.

1660

Harmonia Macrocosmica An illustrated compendium of cosmological concepts - by many considered the most beautiful celestial atlas ever published.

1729

Atlas Coelestis Atlas Coelestis, assembled by Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed and illustrated by painter James Thornhill was the largest star atlas of its time.

1756

Coelum Australe Stelliferum Between 1750 and 1754, French astronomer de Lacaille mapped the southern skies. His planisphere contained the first drawings of 14 new southern constellations.

1801

Bode's Uranographia Johann Elert Bode's Star Atlas, showing more than 100 constellations on 20 plates marked the climax of an epoch of artistic representation of the constellations.

1824

Urania's Mirror A set of 32 astronomical star chart cards designed by the Reverend Richard Rouse Bloxam. To this day, this is one of the most popular creations of star charts.

1827

Astrophilogeon Astrophilogeon is a set of playing cards designed by English artist Charles Hodges featuring the classic constellations. It is still in print today - almost 200 years later.

1833

Geography of the Heavens Published by US-American astronomer E.H. Burritt, Geography of the Heavens was a popular, richly illustrated star map by a now almost forgotten author.

2000

Navajo Skies A description of the traditional constellations of the North American Navajo people, written by Nancy C. Maryboy and illustrated by Melvin Bainbridge.

2002

Stars over Tyrell Illustrations of the constellations of the Boorong Aboriginal people in Victoria, Australia, developed by a documentary team.

2012

Native Skywatchers A set of star maps based on the astronomical knowledge of the Native American Cree, Ojibwe, Dakota and Lakota people.

2015

Ad Wer Ad Wer: Story of the Stars from the Eastern Torres Strait is a body of linocut print-works by Australian artist Tommy Pau.

2015

Star-Stack A beautiful set of playing cards combining Indian art and Greek mythology, disigned by South African artist Jessica Benjamin Purmeswar.

2016

Atchakosuk A description of the traditional constellations of the North American Cree people, written by Wilfred Buck and illustrated by Edwin Bichetty.

2016

The Lost Constellations US-American artist Lisa Bohnwagner brought some of the animal constellation not adopted by the IAU (such as the Sea Horse and the Pangolion) back to life.

2010 - 2021

Spaceart Artists have always been inspired by the night sky. In recent years, space artists also found inspiration in images taken by Hubble and other telescopes.

800 BC - 2000 AD

The Zodiac A collection of artistic expressions of Zodiac constellations throughout the centuries and from around the world.

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