http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ mirrored file For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== *Illustration Gallery* *Astronomical Artefacts and Cuneiform Tablets, etc* An early surviving depiction of the Classical Greek constellations that is substantially complete is the Farnese celestial globe (commonly called the Farnese Atlas (The Atlante Farnese)). It is a large decorative celestial globe. It is basically a statue of the figure of Atlas in a kneeling position holding a celestial globe on his back (i.e., between his shoulders). Atlas is bearded, has a cloak draped over his left shoulder, and is holding the globe with both hands. The position of the hands serve to obscure part of the globe. (The sculpture is 2.1 metres tall and the diameter of the globe is 65 cms.) According to Ed. Krupp the globe also symbolises the cosmic axis around which the heavens turn. The name Farnese Atlas was gained from its acquirement by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in the early 16th-century (and its exhibition in the Palazzo Farnese in Rome). It is now located in the Museo Nazionale Archeologico in Naples. (It would appear that the statue was unearthed in an archaeological excavation (in Rome?) in the early 16th-century.) The statue is believed by art historians to be a Roman copy of an earlier (presumably) Greek original. It is generally thought that the existing white marble sculpture was made in Rome circa 150 CE and is a late copy of a Greek original made circa 200 BCE. (Artistically the figure of Atlas has equal important with the globe.) In Greek mythology Atlas was sentenced by Zeus to hold up the sky. The Farnese Atlas first came to modern notice in the early 16th-century when it became part of the antiquities collection in the Farnese Palace in Rome. There are some slightly divergent accounts concerning its recovery. One account states it had been found in a damaged condition in the late 15th-century. Another account states that it was uncovered in the ruins of ancient Rome during the course of excavations in the mid-16th-century. Circa 1555 it underwent extensive restorations. There is no evidence that the globe itself has been modified or reworked by this restoration work. The first detailed study of the Farnese Globe was made by the Italian astronomer and historian Francesco Bianchini (1662-1729). This study, likely carried out circa 1694-1695, remained in manuscript form. The north polar region of the celestial globe has some damage (i.e., there is a hole in the top of the globe) and so the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are missing. The globe depicts 42 of the 48 classical Greek constellation figures but not the stars comprising each constellation. However, the stars may have originally been painted on the globe. One of the 42 constellations is obscured by one of the hands holding the globe. The constellation figures are depicted facing outward from the perspective of an observer positioned outside the earth and looking back towards earth (rather than inward, toward the centre of the globe). This means that the constellation figures are depicted back to front (i.e., are shown inverted) in comparison to the way an observer sees them from the earth (which would be a fixed point at the centre of the sphere). Naturally the earth is not represented but would be a tiny sphere centrally located inside the celestial sphere. The constellations, which are shown in relief, are considered inaccurately depicted. Included on the globe are a grid of reference circles which include the equator, tropics, colures, Arctic circle and Antarctic circle. However, the First Point of Aries and the First Point of Libra do not coincide with the equinoctial colures. Also, the rectangular figure north of the zodiacal constellation Cancer appears to depict a constellation that is not mentioned by Aratus, Hipparchus, or Ptolemy. This apparently unrecorded constellation has yet to be identified. One modern estimate dates the statue of Atlas to 73 BCE and (from the position of the constellation figures to the globe's equinox) dates the constellation figures to circa 370 BCE. The interpretation of this dating is the celestial globe is probably a decorative attempt to depict the constellation figures described (circa 275 BCE) by Aratus in his astronomical poem /Phainomena/. The American astronomer Bradley Schaefer has recently announced (January 2005) his analysis of the globe and concluded that the date of the constellations depicted is indicated as circa 125 BCE. He believes this analysis has been strengthened by comparing the constellation figures with Hipparchus' /Commentary/. Schaefer's conclusion is that the constellation figures on the Farnese Atlas are an accurate depiction of Hipparchus' lost star catalog. It has been the belief of a number of scholars that the Farnese globe probably embodies the astronomy of both Eudoxus and Hipparchus. There are only three celestial globes which survive from Graeco-Roman times. All three globes reproduce all or most of the constellations known in Graeco-Roman culture. These are: (1) the Farnese Globe; (2) the Mainz Globe; and (3) the Kugel Globe. Of these only the Farnese Globe is a large globe. Both the Mainz Globe and the Kugel Globe are miniature globes. The Farnese Globe, dated circa 150 CE, but likely based on the constellations as depicted in the 2nd-century BCE, is discussed above. The Farnese Globe is the largest of the celestial globes surviving from Classical antiquity. A number of constellations are either damaged or missing. The Mainz Globe is dated to circa 150-220 CE. It is a small brass globe that was acquired circa 1997 by the Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum in Mainz (Germany). It is believed to have originated in Roman Egypt. It is a complete celestial globe in that it depicts all 48 Classical constellations with relative precision. It originally formed part of a sundial and was positioned on top of the gnomon. The entire Milky Way is depicted on the Mainz Globe and this is the first complete depiction known. The Kugel Globe is dated circa 300-100 BCE. It may be the earliest celestial globe to survive from Classical antiquity. It is a small globe made of silver and is held in the Gallery J. Kugel Antiquaries in Paris (France). It was acquired circa 1996. It is thought to have originated as a copy of an existing sphere that had been repaired. This is because it appears to have reproduced the repair rivets on the original globe in the mistaken belief that they were celestial symbols. This would indicate that the artisan who made the copy was not knowledgeable in astronomy. Regarding the image of the Farnese Atlas depicted above. The exact origin of the electronic image remains unknown. The image appears as Plate IIa in Le Ciel des Romains by André Le Boeuffle (1989). However, with the exception of the fig-leaf add-on the image matches Tafel II in Antike Himmelsbilder by Georg Thiele (1898). The Farnese Atlas photographs appearing in this book were taken by the Berlin-based photographer Paul Schahl. The image above was possibly derived, either directly or indirectly, from Paul Schahl's photograph in the book, or his photograph was perhaps accessed from another source. The date of modification of an original photograph, by way of adding-on the fig-leaf, remains unsolved but is most likely quite modern (and perhaps original to Boeuffle's 1989 book). The solution would depend on confirming the particular photographic source for the modification and scanned image. A likely source is the (unmodified) photograph of the Farnese Atlas, comprising Plate 19, in La Science Antique et Mediévale edited by René Taton (1957). However, this is credited to the Italian firm of art photographers Fratelli Alineri (established in Florence in 1852 by, as the name indicates, the Alineri Brothers). It is a match for the photograph comprising Tafel II in Thiele's book. (The Farnese Atlas image with the fig-leaf add-on has been published in the well-known American monthly astronomical magazine Sky and Telescope.) Copyright © 2001-2006 by Gary D. 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