History of Cosmos in Art
Serving as an integral part of culture and art, the cosmos has captured the attention and wonder of humans since early history and has continued to evolve with the changing scientific and art movement climates. In prehistoric ages, depictions of star constellations date back to some of the earliest known art, often used to keep track of time for hunting purposes, to record important astrological events such as comets, or for navigation.
Hall of the Bulls, Courtesy of Smarthistory
Hall of Bulls, The Cave of Lascaux France, 16,000-14,000 B.C.E.
Deep within the Lascaux cave in France are some of the earliest known prehistoric human paintings. Made from charcoal and an earth pigment called ocher, the figural representations depict detailed animals such as bulls, deer, horses, rhinoceroses, and bears with their defining characteristics. Dots, lines, and other abstract markings also decorate the walls, leaving a wide interpretation of the purpose of these paintings. While there is no one set answer, it is likely the paintings served a ritual or religious significance or as hunting magic to manifest successful hunts. However, other research from comparing the position of stars to the date of the paint used claims prehistoric paintings across various regions represent the constellations or major astronomical events. For instance, above one bull, there is a cluster of six dots that align with the Pleiades star cluster which are located within the Taurus constellation, also known as the bull zodiac.
Nebra Sky Disk, Germany, 1600 B.C.E.
Photo by Rainer Zenz. Courtesy of World History Encyclopedia. Learn more about the Nebra Sky Disk here.
Discovered by looters who attempted to illegally sell the item, the Nebra Sky Disk is the oldest known realistic cosmic depiction. Once rich with a dark blue-violet background, the patinated bronze disk glistens with illustrations of recognizable gold shapes: a full moon or sun; a crescent moon; 23 round dotted stars, and three arcs. The arc at the bottom is often translated as a “solar boat” from Egyptian mythology, but represents the path of the star Vega in the constellation Lyra on night of winter solstice. Although the majority of the circular stars appear to be placed randomly across the disk, there is a cluster of seven above the sun and crescent moon, associated with the Pleiades star cluster. A series of holes outlines the disk’s rim indicates the disk was probably fastened to something. Researchers found that the 82 degree angle measured between the two parallel arcs accurately corresponds to the sun’s solstices (the sun’s ecliptic path across the sky also 82 degrees in certain areas of Europe), rendering the object a possible astronomical calculator device for determining prime harvesting times.
Courtesy of the Louvre
Dendera Zodiac, Egypt, 50 B.C.E.
Located on the ceiling of an Osiris dedicated chapel within the Hathor Temple of the Dendera Temple Complex of Hathor is a bas-relief stone slab known as the Dendera Zodiac. Dated back to around the time of or just prior to Cleopatra’s reign, the round sandstone depicts hieroglyphics of humans and animals, representing the zodiac constellations. While several zodiac signs are in their more recognizable forms such as the bull for Taurus, a goatfish for Capricorn, and a scorpion for Scorpio, other zodiacs take an Egyptian form such as the god Hapi with two vases of water for Aquarius. They often represented human figures in a twisted perspective, or composite pose, with their torso and eyes facing forward with their heads and limbs in profile, capturing the most representational features through the most identifiable direction in order to provide a complete viewpoint. Symbols for each of the five planets known to the Ancient Egyptians, as well as symbols for lunar and solar eclipses, are also included. In addition to the celestial representations, the presence of symbols on one of the rings indicating the 360-day Egyptian year confirms this inscription as a method of tracking time. These cosmic symbols may also be connected to beliefs about the afterlife.
Exterior of the Hathor Temple. Photo by Brad Yonaka.
During the medieval (5th century to 15th century) and Renaissance (14th century to 17th century) periods , the cosmos became a religious symbol. Frequently signifying the heavens, they were often featured in many illuminated manuscripts, Book of Hours prayer books, on the walls and ceilings in chapels, and in countless religious scenes. At the start of the 17th century, the beginnings of the Scientific Revolution spurred the emergence of modern science and observation, inducing a dramatic shift in artistic portrayal of the cosmos. With the invention of the telescope, celestial illustrations in art favored scientific accuracy and were used to disseminate knowledge and further scientific discoveries.
Courtesy NASA and Anglo-Saxon Archaeology
The Bayeux Tapestry, Canterbury, c. 1070
Commemorating the fight for the English throne between Harold, the Earl of Wessex, and William, the Duke of Normandy, in 1066, the Bayeux Tapestry stretches nearly 230 feet long and twenty inches tall. Despite its name, the work commissioned by Odo, William’s half-brother, is embroidered rather than a true woven tapestry. Spanning across 75 inscribed scenes throughout one continuous narrative, the tapestry depicts the events that lead up to the Norman Conquest as well as the Battle of Hastings itself. Although the end is lost, it likely illustrated William’s coronation as King of England. While it probably served a decorative function for backdrops for feasts or other events, today, the tapestry gives us insight into early dining and military practices and customs. One section details men looking at a soaring object, this is now known as the earliest image of a comet, identified as Halley’s Comet. At the time, the English believed the comet was a bad omen, fortelling a formidable change for King Harold and their kingdom. Whereas Duke William of Normandy saw it as an optimistic sign for his future.
Page from Starry Messenger. Courtesy of the Met
Two Views of the Moon, in Siderius Nuncius (The Starry Messenger), Galileo Galilei, Italy, 1610
Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger). Courtesy of Brown University Library.
Although Galileo (b. 1564, Italy) did not invent the telescope, his challenging ideas and groundbreaking discoveries through his use of, and advancement of, the telescope granted him the title of the “Father of modern astronomy.” After hearing about the creation of telescopes in 1609, he learned to manufacture his own, achieving a telescope with a 20x magnification. Across nineteen nights, he directed his handcrafted telescope to the moon, his results forever changing our understanding of the moon and the universe. Illustrations in his book, Starry Messenger, he published in 1610 detail his findings that, contrary to prior belief, the moon was not a perfect, smooth sphere but rather had a blemished surface like Earth, full of mountains, craters, and valleys. He would go on to share more of his observations, including Jupiter’s moons and Venus’ phase, and eventually be put under house arrest for too strongly defending Copernicus’ heliocentric theory.
Courtesy of Tate
Fishermen at Sea, Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1796
From the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th, the Romanticism Period saw a drastic change in the depiction of the cosmos and space. The movement, characterized by an interest in emotion rather than precision or intellect, greatly valued the value of the sublime, an overpowering feeling either positive or negative. A notable English Romantic figure, Joseph Mallord William Turner (b. 1775) is known for his powerful landscapes often infused with intense emotion.
Fishermen at Sea paints a dramatic moonlit scene of fishermen attempting to stay afloat roaring, stormy ocean waves. The swirling currents and details of the white crests of breaking waves amongst dark, ominous, and billowing clouds creates a sense of chaos and dynamism. Compared to the small, flickering light aboard the ship, the moonlight illuminates and overpowers the fishermen and the sea in a soft yet chilling glow, producing an immense feeling of the power and vastness of nature. Many other landscapes within the Romantic era emphasize the awe, wonder, beauty, and power of nature and of the cosmos as well as their incredible emotional impact.
However, a century later, the invention of the camera brought renewed focus on scientific accuracy in depicting the Moon. The Moon was one of the first subjects of photography, and at the time, photography was considered more a science than an art.
The Moon no. 37, John Whipple, William Bond, and George Bond, 1851
In 1839, Louis Daguerrue, a French inventor, developed a process involving a silver coated copper plate that when exposed to light and developed over hot mercury revealed an image. Known as a Daguerreotype, this new photography process cut down exposure time to 20 minutes and created a clearer, more detailed image.
Daguerrue is believed to have taken the first photograph of the moon although his work burned in a fire, and English scientist John William Draper also captured a photo of the moon’s surface; however, decades later, the clarity, detail, and scale of moon daguerreotypes by a group of three men greatly overshadowed earlier attempts. After various attempts and challenges, American photographer John Whipple, and father and son American astronomers William and George Bond, developed a tracking device that took in account the Moon and Earth’s rotations to accurately photograph the moon through a telescope. Replacing previous methods for capturing the moon such as drawing, their detailed results of the moon’s surface texture, shadows, and imperfections greatly impacted photography’s value in astronomy, forever changing the trajectory of scientific study.
Beginning with Impressionism in the mid 1800s, the first modern art movements sparked more stylized interpretations of the cosmos, infused with individual and subjective aesthetics, including being simplified to mere geometric shapes. Moving alongside more experimental and abstract movements, new perspectives, and media, the cosmos, too, continued to become evermore newly represented.
Courtesy of MoMA
The Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh, 1889
Continuing the emphasis on initial sensation, real-life subjects, and the use of vivid and bold colors and light from Impressionism, Post-Impressionism (approximately 1886-1905) both extended and rejected the prior movement. Developing their individual styles, Post-Impressionist artists favored an emphasis on symbolic content as well as more geometric forms. Using the view outside his window during his stay at a health ward in southern France for inspiration, Van Gogh painted Starry Night’s iconic night scene from memory during the day. Drawing from both observation and abstraction, the painting is a recognizable landscape of a village beneath rolling hills next to a flowing cypress tree. Swirls of various hues of blues and yellows sweep across the sky, forming dynamic waves and iridescent, twinkling stars.
Identifying Venus as the bright dominant star to the right of the tree, many astronomers claim the position of the stars and Moon accurately resemble what Van Gogh would have seen out his window although the moon would have been in the gibbous face and not a crescent.
Courtesy National Gallery Singapore and Liu Kuo-sung
