XII. Heavenly Treasures

Since before recorded history, humans have observed the motions of the stars, trying to figure out where they were. Eventually, they made physical models of the night sky: that is, globes and celestial maps. The first recorded celestial globe in Greece was made in the 5th century bce and in China during the 2nd century BCE. In the European Renaissance, celestial maps comprised mixtures of astronomical observations and artistic expression, reflecting Classical, Islamic, and popular artistic themes of the day. Crucially important in this respect was the work of Albrecht Dürer, whose combined scientific and artistic celestial maps were first published in 1515. Dürer's work was then copied by artists and astronomers throughout Western Europe until the middle of the sixteenth century. Celestial maps were included in many general and dedicated atlases in response to popular demand (76,77). Late seventeenth-century astronomers, notably John Flamsteed, sought to increase the amount of factual information in star charts (78). Although Flamsteed's work continued to represent the constellations artistically, the artistic tradition in astronomy thereafter declined. During the nineteenth century, astronomers rejected the celestial map in favor of the more accurate star catalogue. The celestial map became the property of the collector, not the scholar, though scholars and laymen alike would still collect and treasure both celestial/terrestrial globes and celestial maps up to the present day.