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Dante and the early astronomers

Chapter 4: ILLUSTRATIONS.
By M. A. Orr
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About This Book

A scholarly survey chronicles the evolution of astronomical ideas from early observational tools and star lore through classical Greek models, classical and Arabic transmission, and the revival of ancient learning in medieval Europe. It then analyzes how contemporary cosmology and astronomical theory are woven into a major medieval epic, tracing sources, instruments, and timekeeping methods that informed its imagery. The study compares differing cosmological systems, explains technical concepts in accessible terms, and documents the scholarly authorities and evidence behind its readings. Appendices and illustrations support the text with charts, translations, and bibliographic guidance.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PART I.
FIG. PAGE
 

Dante Studying. From a fresco by Luca Signorelli at Orvieto

 Frontispiece
1. The Sun’s Path in the Sky at different Seasons 11
2. The Moon at Sunset, soon after New, and three days old 14
3. Path of Mars among the Stars, 1909 16
4. The Star Sphere 19
5. Synodic and Sidereal Periods 21
 

Star Map

 34
 

The Moon-God of Ur. From a Cylinder-seal in the British Museum, date about b.c. 2400. By permission of the Trustees of the British Museum

 36
6. The triple Star-sign of the Babylonians 37
7, 8, 9. The young Moon and the Pleiades after sunset, as seen in Babylon, b.c. 1000 42
10.

The Scorpion. From a Babylonian boundary stone of about b.c. 1120, set up in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar I. Now in the British Museum

 43
11.

The Goat with Fishes’ Scales. From a Babylonian boundary stone

 43
 

The Boat of the Sun travelling over the Sky. From an ancient Egyptian papyrus. Reproduced from Flammarion’s Astronomical Myths

 46
12. The Universe according to Anaximander 59
13. The Universe of Leucippus 63
14. The Universe of Democritus 64
15. The Universe of Pythagoras 71
16. The System of Philolaus: night on Earth 73
17. do.twelve hours later: day on Earth 73
18. Earth and Sun according to Heraclides 74
19. The Spheres of the Sun in the system of Eudoxus 90
20. Method of Aristarchus for finding the Distance of the Sun 108
21. Pekin Observatory 114
22.

A Pekin Astrolabe of the thirteenth century a.d. From photographs taken in 1888 and published in the Bulletin de la Société belge d’Astronomie

 116
23. The Moveable Eccentric 119
24. The Movement of Spica 124
25. The Sun and the Equinox 128
26.

The Movement of the Earth’s Axis which is the true cause of Precession. From Young’s Manual of Astronomy, 1902

 131
27. Precession of the Equinoxes 133
28. Path of Mars, 1909 139
29. The Epicycle 139
30. A Planet “retrograding” and “in opposition” 140
31. Venus, Mercury, and the Sun 142
32. The Sun’s Deferent 145
33.

Apparent Variation in the size of the Sun. Photographs taken at Kodaikanal Observatory, with the spectroheliograph, July 1, 1911, and Jan. 3, 1912. Actual size of the negative

 146
34. The Moon’s Epicycle and Deferent 148
35. The Ptolemaic System 151
36.

Method (erroneous) of estimating Planetary Distances, described by Alfraganus

 188
37. Earth’s Shadow 192
 
PART II.
FIG. PAGE
 

A Mediæval Astronomer. From a painting by Gerard Dow

 200
 

Astronomy. From a fresco in the Spanish Chapel of Santa Maria Novella, Florence

 217
38. The Half-Moon shape of the Habitable Earth (Ristoro) 247
 

Climate Map of about a.d. 1110. Reproduced from Beazley’s Dawn of Modern Geography

 248
39. Sun, Moon, and zenith. To illustrate Par. xxix 1-6 267
40. The Zodiac and the Months 276
41.

The Ram on the Ecliptic. From the Cosmi Historia of Robert Flud, a.d. 1612. Reproduced from Brown’s Aratos.

 279
 

Map of Stars visible before Dawn in Purgatory

 295
42. Ursa Minor as a Horn. Par. xiii. 10 299
43. The Sun at the Equinox, seen from the poles and the equator. Conv. III. v. 327
44. Lunar and Solar Eclipses 339
 

Map of the World by Heinrich of Mainz, about a.d. 1110. Reproduced from Beazley’s Dawn of Modern Geography

 344
45. The Universe of Dante 355
46. The Signs of the Zodiac at sunrise from the Mountain of Purgatory 375
47. Northern Slope of the Mountain of Purgatory 377
48. Dante’s View of Earth from the stars. Par. xxii. 395
49. do. Six hours later. Par. xxvii. 396
50. An impossible interpretation of Par. xxvii. 399
51. The Rising Sun at the spring equinox. Par. i. 39 403
52. The Moon’s Epicycle and Deferent 449
53. Comparative sizes of the Sun and his satellites 490

ABBREVIATED TITLES OF
BOOKS USED IN THE TEXT.

Dante’s Works:—  
Inf. Inferno.
Purg. Purgatorio.
Par. Paradiso.
Canz. Canzone.
Son. Sonetto.
Ball. Ballata.
Ecl. Eclogue.
V. N. Vita Nuova.
Conv. Convivio.
De Mon. De Monarchia.
V. E. De Vulgari Eloquentia.
Ep. Epistola.
Qu. Quæstio de Aqua et Terra.
 
El. Ast. Elementa Astronomica (Alfraganus).
Comp. del Mond. Della Composizione del Mondo (Ristoro).

Dante and the
Early Astronomers.