With its hand-colored illustrations, this splendid book is a feast for the eyes just to leaf through. But it was designed and marketed to meet a specific function: detailed instructions explained to privileged owners-amongst them Tudor King Henry VIII-on how to turn the paper dials according to dates and star signs, to create their own astrological charts and forecasts. Sixteenth-century royalty and scholars alike combined the desire for knowledge with the long-held belief that it could be gathered from the movement of the stars: from predicting one’s health to the weather and ideal moments of susceptibility-or conversely, obtuseness-the heavens provided meaning and guidance in an unstable world.
Featured Artwork: The Astronomicum Caesareum, written by Petrus Apianus (1495-1552), illustrated by Michael Ostendorfer (ca. 1490-1549), Ingolstadt, 1540. Printed text on paper with hand-colored woodcut illustrations, 17 7/8 x 12 11/16 in. (45.4 x 32.3 cm.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Herbert N. Straus, 1925 (25.17)
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Director: Kate Farrell
Producer: Bryan Martin
Writers: Ana Matisse Donefer-Hickie, Angelina Ding, and Bryan Martin
Video Editor: Angelina Ding
Camera: Kelly Richardson
Gaffer: Josh Schneiderman
Gaffer Assistant: Jonathan Meija
Production Coordinators: Lela Jenkins, Aurola Wedman Alfaro
Narration: Ana Matisse Donefer-Hickie
Music: Austin Fisher
Post Production Sound: David Raymond
Paper Conservation Conservator: Yana van Dyke
General Manager of Collections: Denny Stone
Thanks to: Elizabeth Cleland, Adam Eaker, Melissa Bell, and Mandy Kritzeck
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12 сен 2024
