Painting the Heavens: Art and Science in the Age of GalileoThe remarkable astronomical discoveries made by Galileo with the new telescope in 1609-10 led to his famous disputes with philosophers and religious authorities, most of whom found their doctrines threatened by his evidence for Copernicus's heliocentric universe. In this book, Eileen Reeves brings an art historical perspective to this story as she explores the impact of Galileo's heavenly observations on painters of the early seventeenth century. Many seventeenth-century painters turned to astronomical pastimes and to the depiction of new discoveries in their work, yet some of these findings imposed controversial changes in their use of religious iconography. For example, Galileo's discovery of the moon's rough topography and the reasons behind its "secondary light" meant rethinking the imagery surrounding the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception, which had long been represented in paintings by the appearance of a smooth, incandescent moon. By examining a group of paintings by early modern artists all interested in Galileo's evidence for a Copernican system, Reeves not only traces the influence of science on painting in terms of optics and content, but also reveals the painters in a conflict between artistic depiction and dogmatic representation. Reeves offers a close analysis of seven works by Lodovico Cigoli, Peter Paul Rubens, Francisco Pacheco, and Diego Velázquez. She places these artists at the center of the astronomical debate, showing that both before and after the invention of the telescope, the proper evaluation of phenomena such as moon spots and the aurora borealis was commonly considered the province of the painter. Because these scientific hypotheses were complicated by their connection to Catholic doctrine, Reeves examines how the relationship between science and art, and their mutual production of knowledge and authority, must themselves be seen in a broader context of theological and political struggle. |
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... Star 57 CHAPTER THREE 1605-1607 : Mutual Illumination 91 CHAPTER FOUR 1610-1612 : In the Shadow of the Moon 138 CHAPTER FIVE 1614–1621 : The Buen Pintor of Seville 184 NOTES 227 BIBLIOGRAPHY 283 INDEX 305 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ( Plates ...
... stars of the Milky Way , and the satellites of Jupiter . He may even have gone beyond the claims of the Sidereus Nuncius to include the most recent of his brother's observations , the phases of Venus , especially since this last ...
... star of 1604 and the lunar substance to four seventeenth - century painters , Peter Paul Rubens , Lodovico Cigoli ... stars every artist exercise , What place they should assign to them they doubt , Argue , and agree not till those stars ...
... stars or moons of Jupiter . It is possible , in fact , that Passignano observed the sunspots before Galileo himself did , and his description of them as " lakes or caverns " in the solar body was more accurate than the astronomer's ...
... star of 1604 , and above all , his discussion of the na- ture and substance of the lunar globe . What is most ... stars , " that is , into the company of the other planets , and to affirm that " she [ was ] movable and [ surpassing ] the ...
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Painting the Heavens: Art and Science in the Age of Galileo Eileen Adair Reeves No preview available - 1997 |