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Visual legitimisation of astronomy in the sixteenth and seventeeth centuries: Atlas, Hercules and Tycho’s nose Volker R. Remmert Arbeitsgruppe Geschichte der Mathematik und der Naturwissenschaften, Institut fu ¨ r Mathematik, FB 08—Physik, Mathematik und Informatik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universita ¨ t Mainz, D-55099 Mainz, Germany Abstract Images of the virtuous hero Hercules and the crowned King Atlas offered considerable potential for legitimising the new astronomy of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The accomplishments of Hercules, a seeker after virtue, with his exceptional learning, his role as disseminator of knowl- edge, his significance as an example of ideal manhood and, in addition to all, his achievement of immortality, invited comparison with the endeavours of astronomers. Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Hercules and Atlas appear as the spiritual authorities of the discipline, and each was called into use to symbolise both the old and the new astronomy. Both figures embod- ied qualities that were decisive in struggles for patronage: they were politicised, especially Hercules, and used to legitimise claims to power. Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: History of astronomy; Mythology; Tycho Brahe; Visual legitimisation 1. Johannes Bayer’s use of Atlas and Hercules In the autumn of 1603, a magnificently illustrated atlas of the heavens, the Uranometria of Johannes Bayer (1572–1625), was published in Augsburg by the nobleman and human- ist Marcus Welser. In this work, Bayer, a lawyer by profession, together with the engraver 0039-3681/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.shpsa.2007.03.007 E-mail address: [email protected] Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327–362 www.elsevier.com/locate/shpsa Studies in History and Philosophy of Science

Visual Legitimisation of Astronomy in the Sixteenth and Seventeeth Centuries' Atlas, Hercules and Tycho’s Nose

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  • sixteenth and seventeeth centuries: Atlas,

    edge, his signicance as an example of ideal manhood and, in addition to all, his achievement of

    In the autumn of 1603, a magnicently illustrated atlas of the heavens, the Uranometriaof Johannes Bayer (15721625), was published in Augsburg by the nobleman and human-ist Marcus Welser. In this work, Bayer, a lawyer by profession, together with the engraver

    E-mail address: [email protected]

    Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362

    www.elsevier.com/locate/shpsa

    Studies in Historyand Philosophyof Science0039-3681/$ - see front matter 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.immortality, invited comparison with the endeavours of astronomers. Throughout the sixteenthand seventeenth centuries, Hercules and Atlas appear as the spiritual authorities of the discipline,and each was called into use to symbolise both the old and the new astronomy. Both gures embod-ied qualities that were decisive in struggles for patronage: they were politicised, especially Hercules,and used to legitimise claims to power. 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

    Keywords: History of astronomy; Mythology; Tycho Brahe; Visual legitimisation

    1. Johannes Bayers use of Atlas and HerculesHercules and Tychos nose

    Volker R. Remmert

    Arbeitsgruppe Geschichte der Mathematik und der Naturwissenschaften, Institut fur Mathematik,

    FB 08Physik, Mathematik und Informatik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat Mainz,

    D-55099 Mainz, Germany

    Abstract

    Images of the virtuous hero Hercules and the crowned King Atlas oered considerable potentialfor legitimising the new astronomy of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The accomplishmentsof Hercules, a seeker after virtue, with his exceptional learning, his role as disseminator of knowl-Visual legitimisation of astronomy in thedoi:10.1016/j.shpsa.2007.03.007

  • Alexander Mair (ca. 15591617), produced twenty-nine maps of the sky, showing the posi-tions of approximately 2000 stars. The Uranometria was meant to replace Ptolemys starcatalogue, but Bayer deliberately avoided the question of which was the correct model ofthe universe, that of Ptolemy, Copernicus or Brahe. He did, however, use the then circu-lating manuscripts of Brahe on the positions of the stars.1 Bayer dedicated his book to thetwo noblemen Marcus Welser, his publisher, and Quirin Rehlinger. The work was alsodedicated to the governing authority of the city of Augsburg, the Collegium der Sieben,who graciously accepted and acknowledged it by oering Bayer a generous honorarium,which he received in September 1603the same month as the dedication was dated.2

    328 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362But in addition to its scientic contents, Bayer, with this most tting gift, had presentedhis recipients with an object appropriate to their high social and intellectual status: the lav-ishly illustrated maps and the frontispiece of the handsome volume invited its owners andthose who saw it to display their knowledge of Greek mythology and to let their human-istic education shine. The highly symbolical pictorial nature of the Uranometria made it anideal showpiece in a learned and prestigious library; it was also extremely well suited forplaying the humanistic parlour game of deciphering iconographic concepts, a practiceoften both admired and smiled at by later generations.3 Little wonder then that the illus-trations of the Uranometria, which could stand alone without any attendant text, took ona life of their own as collectors items and reduced mirabilia right up to the twentiethcentury.4

    The frontispiece of the Uranometria presents a worthy prologue on the stage of patron-age artefacts (Fig. 1).5 It follows the standard model of an architectural framework andthe pedestal, title-eld and tympanum are split into three sections.6 In the centre of thetympanum, the Earth goddess Cybele/Rhea on a chariot being drawn by lions, racestowards the viewer. In attendance on either side are Apollo and Artemis, representingthe Sun and the Moon. The mantle worn by Artemis is reminiscent of Astraea, who oftenappeared alongside Urania and Astronomia as the personication of astronomy.7 Thus weare introduced to the Earth, Sun, Moon and Stars, the objects of astronomy and of theUranometria. The Greek inscription below Apollo and Artemis reminds us that theseobjects are to be understood with the help of geometry. Here Bayer quotes the mottoof Platos Academy: Let no one unskilled in geometry enter. The inscription aeternitatiunder the gure of Cybele, may well refer to the immutability of the heavens, as William B.Ashworth has suggested (Ashworth, 1985, p. 191 n. 6). But it can also be understood as anallusion to the classical topos of the immortality of Augustus (aeternitati augusti), thefounder of Augsburg, and thus is a reverential bow to Bayers native city, Augusta Vindel-icorum.8 In the centre of the pedestal, under the title-eld, an engraving of Augsburg servesas a divan for Capricorn, who is drawn in the antique style with a tail that twists and

    1 Bayer (1603). Little is known of Bayer: see Bayer (1981), pp. 211216; Rosen (19701990).2 See Lenk (1968), p. 173; Bayer (1981), p. 211.3 See Arnulf (2002); cf. Belting (1995), p. 148; Bialostocki (1979), p. 31.4 On the concept of reduced mirabilia (reduzierte mirabilia) see Remmert (1998), pp. 166167.5 The engraving has, to my knowledge, only been discussed by Ashworth (1985), p. 180.6 On dierent types of title-pages see Corbett & Lightbown (1979), pp. 34; Holtgen (1986), pp. 97 . On

    frontispieces in general see the discussion in Dekoninck (2002); Remmert (2005).7 On Astraea/Justitia see Ovid: Metamorphoses, I, 127131, 149150; Yates (1975); on Astraea as a

    personication of astronomy, Remmert (2003a), pp. 281282, 286.

    8 In his dedication, Bayer refers to the connection between Augustus and astronomy.

  • Fig. 1. Bayer (1603), frontispiece probably by Alexander Mair (from Remmert, 2005, p. 127).

    V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362 329

  • divides into three sh-tails.9 The classical representation of this sign of the zodiac also

    the focent ofor halmobentspeciaHercu

    Atdiscipastrothat astronomy is one of the noblest, and at the same time oldest, of all disciplines. Indeed,

    330 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362Atlas and sometimes Hercules had been considered contemporaries of Moses since lateantiquity (Seznec, 1961, pp. 1518). Hardly could a tradition be found that reached backfurther into history.

    Before entering into a discussion of another important iconographic aspect of Atlas andHercules, in which Atlas stands for the old Ptolemaic view of the universe, and Herculesfor the new Tychonic view, it will be helpful to give an account of the mythological tradi-tions on which representations such as Bayers were based.

    2. Atlas and Hercules: the story of an encounter

    Legend has it that Hercules met Atlas when carrying out the eleventh of his twelvelabours. Hercules had been required by Eurystheus to seek out the Hesperides and bringback the golden apples that were watched over by a terrible ogre. According to Apollod-orus (The library, II, 5, 11), Prometheus, Atlass brother, advised Hercules

    not to go himself after the apples, but to send Atlas, rst relieving him of the burdenof the sphere; so when he came to Atlas in the land of the Hyperboreans, he took theadvice and relieved Atlas. But when Atlas had received three apples from the Hes-perides, he came to Hercules, and not wishing to support the sphere he said thathe would himself carry the apples to Eurystheus, and bade Hercules to hold upthe sky in his stead. Hercules promised to do so, but succeeded by craft in puttingit on Atlas instead. For at the advice of Prometheus, he begged Atlas to hold upthe sky till he should put a pad on his head. When Atlas heard that, he laid the threeapples down on the ground and took the sphere from Hercules. And so Herculespicked up the apples and departed. (Apollodorus, 1954, Vol. 1, p. 231)

    This is the standard version of the encounter between Atlas and Hercules. Atlas,according to Hesiod (Theogony, 519522) was counted among the Titans who took partin the unsuccessful rebellion against Zeus and the Olympians. As punishment, Zeus9 Cf.rm of a disk. The depiction of Atlas, his dress, beard and turban, is highly reminis-f the iconography of earlier and contemporary representations of Ptolemy. Hercules,is part, easily and gracefully supports the celestial globe above his shoulders, and itst appears to oat therein stark contrast to the common representations of Atlas,double by the burden of the world (Atlas Farnese). Hercules, like Augustus, had al signicance for the city of Augsburg in the late sixteenth centurya magnicentles fountain was built there by Adriaen de Vries between 1597 and 1600.las and Hercules stand on pedestals that characterise them respectively as teacher andle of an astronomy which had existed from time immemorial (Atlanti vetustissimaenomiae magistro; Herculi vetustissimae astronomiae discipulo). Here Bayer assertsreoccurs in one of the later plates of the Uranometria.To the left and right of the title-eld stand the main protagonists, Atlas and Hercules.

    Atlas stands in front of an entrance to a mountain cavehe had after all, been turned intoa mountain rangepointing to a Tellurium, a representation of the Ptolemaic universe inGundel (1972), pp. 696697.

  • ordered him to bear the heavens.10 Thus in ancient times, the mythological spectrum ofAtlass competence was extended to that of astronomer and even founder of the scienceof astronomy/astrology (there being no sharp distinction between the two until well intothe seventeenth century).11 Diodorus of Sicily saw in Atlas not only the founder of theastronomical/astrological science, but also the rst writer of a textbook on the movementof the heavens (Bibliotheca historica, III, 60, 2 and IV, 27, 4). A more signicant contribu-tion to this traditional view of Atlas in Latin literature can be attributed to Vitruvius, whocredited him as the rst to pass on knowledge of the movements of the Sun, the Moon and

    V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362 331the stars to human beings (De architectura, VI, 7, 6).The role of Hercules as the disciple of Atlas rst appears in a fragment from Herodorus

    of Heracleum in the fourth century BC. Herodorus, according to Clement of Alexandria,reports that Hercules received the columns of the world from Atlas. The legend is an alle-gory of the acquisition, by learning, of the knowledge of the sky.12 When Hercules metAtlas, the latter was weary from his eorts. Philostratus tells us that he saw that Atlaswas bowed over and crushed by the weight and that he was crouching on one knee aloneand barely had strength left to stand.13 So it was understandable that Atlas was delightedwhen Hercules oered to take the burden of the world from him, and that afterwards, heendeavoured to rid himself of this permanent aiction.

    There were various accounts of the relationship between Atlas and Hercules, even inantiquity. Diodorus of Sicily, for example, tells that Hercules rescued Atlass daughterfrom the clutches of pirates. In gratitude, the knowledgeable Atlas introduced him tothe art of astrology: Hercules, for his part, passed on this wisdom to the Greeks. And thiswas the motive, so it was said, for Hercules taking the burden from Atlas, who bore up thermament and had knowledge of the stars (Bibliotheca historica, IV, 27, 45). An impor-tant common theme, despite dierences in detail, was present in all such myths, and wastaken up and much discussed in later times, namely the teacherdisciple relationshipbetween Atlas and Hercules. In whatever version of the story, the encounter between Atlasand Hercules changed both characters: Atlas was no longer the Titan punished by Zeus,the suering bearer of the celestial globe, but the founder of astronomy; and Hercules wasno longer merely the prototype of strong and virtuous heroes, who through strength andvirtue conquered the Olympian heights, but, as Atlass student, became the rst and mostavid scholar of astronomy. In this way, both Atlas and Hercules became intellectualised.Whereas Atlas was nally transformed into a king, knowledgeable in astronomy, Herculesachieved an additional quality, that of the wise man who, according to Lucian, henceforthachieved everything through eloquence.14

    The authors of the Middle Ages and the early modern period drew on these classicalimages. The sheer multiplicity of representations of Hercules since the Renaissance couldll books, and he was associated with dierent meanings and assumed a variety of

    10 On the dierent myths regarding Atlas see Atlas (18941972, 1986). Cf. the remarks in Boyance (1974), pp.4958; Korn (1996); Liebenwein (1996); Tie`che (1945).11 See Herakles (1918), col. 1072; Boyance (1974), pp. 5152; Saxl (1933). On the process of dierentiatingbetween astrology and astronomy see Baldini (2001).12 Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, I, 73, 2; cited from Clement of Alexandria (1991), p. 78.13 Philostratos, Imagines, II, 20, 1; cited from Philostratos (1931), pp. 219220. The description by Philostratusrecalls Atlas Farnese.14 Lucian, Heracles, 5; cited from Lucian (1913), p. 67. On the intellectualisation of Herkules see Galinsky

    (1972), pp. 101125.

  • nationalities. He appears as a shining virtuous hero, or as a model of unparalleled courage;sometimes he is a Hercules gallicus, sometimes a Hercules orentinus: and nally hebecomes the princely ideal, and the patron of Charles V and the Habsburgs.15 Atlas alsounderwent numerous and various transformationshe can be found for example, even ina religious context as an equivalent of Saint Christopher. However, he is seen predomi-nantly as the bearer of the celestial globe or the Earth. He appears eventually as theembodiment of geography and cosmography on the frontispiece of Gerhard MercatorsAtlas (1595), measuring the Earth with consummate ease (Fig. 2). At the same time, otherworks of the same period show him stylised as a wise ruler, a regal ancestor ofastronomy.16

    In the Middle Ages and the early modern period, tales of Hercules and his endeavours

    332 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362enjoyed immense popularity. In texts and images Hercules is depicted in numerous varia-tions and many a book-length tale was dedicated to his acts of heroism and virtue, bearingwitness to his prominence in classical myths and legends.17 His encounter with Atlas alsobecame widely popularised in a multiplicity of forms and interpretations. As to the rela-tionship between Atlas, Hercules and astronomy, many types of source material can bedrawn upon: these include literary, historical, mythographical and astronomical texts,artistic and non-artistic images, as well as emblem books that combine texts and images.

    An important role in disseminating a standardised image of Atlas was played by theo-logical authors of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. Writings on chronology orgeography often contained allusions to Atlas: he was thought of as a contemporary ofMoses, and the famous range of mountains bore his name. Both Jerome (ca. 347417)and Augustine of Hippo (354430) portray Atlas as a great astrologer.18 Ado of Vienne(ca. 800875) and Freculphus of Lisieux (ca. 800851), too, write about the outstandingastrologer Atlas.19 Isidore of Seville (ca. 560636) calls Atlas the founder of astrologyand the rst to study of the motions of the heavens.20 Elsewhere, Isidore, like the laterRabanus Maurus (ca. 780856) in an almost identical passage, saw him as the king ofAfrica (rex Africae).21

    Exactly what was meant by the kingdom of Atlas is somewhat variable. As we shall see,rather than ruling over Africa, others had it that he ruled at times over Libya, Mauritaniaor Spain.22 But for the legitimisation of astronomy in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen-tury, what was important was that Atlas, the founder of the science, had been a king. Wis-dom and power were combined in him, creating an ideal type of ruler, and those seekingpatronage tried to make use of this for their purposes. Thus King Atlas became an impor-tant icon for early modern astronomy. An example of this can be seen in the woodcut by

    15 A comprehensive overview in Galinsky (1972); cf. Bagley (1996); Kray & Oettermann (1994); Lukatis &Ottomeyer (1997); Orgel (1984); Panofsky (1930); Vollkommer (1987).16 On the dierent meanings and pictorial representations of Atlas see Snoep (1967); see also Liebenwein (1996).17 See for example Galinsky (1972); Jung (1966).18 Hieronymus Stridonensis (18441864), col. 157A; Augustinus, De civitate Dei, XVIII, 8.19 Ado Viennensis (18441864), col. 35A, and Freculphus Lexovensis (18441864), cols. 947B947C.20 Isidorus Hispalensis (18441864a), cols. 1025B1026A: Tunc etiam frater ejus [= Promethei] Atlasastrologiam reperit, motumque coeli et rationem primus consideravit.21 Isidorus Hispalensis (18441864b), col. 522C; and Rabanus Maurus (18441864), col. 363D: Atlas fraterPromethei fuit et rex Africae, a quo astrologiae artem prius dicunt excogitatam, ideoque dictus est sustinuissecoelum.

    22 On Atlas as king see Atlas (1986), p. 7; Korn (1996). On Atlas as king of Spain see Saxl (1933), p. 46.

  • Fig. 2. Mercator (1595), frontispiece (from Remmert, 2005, p. 131).

    V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362 333

  • John Day in William Cuninghams Cosmographicall glasse (1559) (Fig. 3). There thecrowned King Atlas supports the geocentric universe on his shoulders as if presenting itfor astronomers to study.23

    The descriptions given in texts of the encounter between Hercules and Atlas mostly fol-low the standard versions, which are also reected in the frontispiece of Bayers Uranome-tria. Hercules meets King Atlas, who instructs him in the science of astronomy, which

    334 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362Hercules himself then hands onpreferably to the Greeks. A lesser known, but quite ency-clopaedic Hercules tale, was written by the Florentine humanist Coluccio Salutati (13311406). Salutatis account of the encounter contains all the usual elements. Atlas, skilled inastronomy and astrology, hands on his knowledge to Hercules, who in turn introduces itto Greece. The not unimportant dierence is that Salutati did not include Atlas among thecrowned heads of the world.24

    The aspect of Atlas as king was considered by Enrique de Villena (13841434) in thefourth chapter of his tale of Hercules (Los doce trabajos de Hercules, 1417). His Atlaswas the king of Libya, and he maintained a garden in which all the fruit was gold. A treein the centre of the garden was the most magnicent of all and bore the largest fruit. Threeyoung maidens, the Hesperides, were required to care for the tree, and, in addition, it waswatched over by a fearsome dragon. De Villena also gives an explanation of the story: inthe Libyan desert, Atlas, the wise ruler, planted many trees of human knowledge. The treeat the centre stood for philosophy, tended by the three Hesperides as symbols of intelli-gence, memory and eloquence, and watched over by the dragon, representing the dicultyand exquisite subtlety of the principles of knowledge. By overcoming these obstacles, Her-cules, thirsty for knowledge, came to understand the principles of knowledge. The moralof the story, according to de Villena, is easy to discern. Atlas, the unchallenged king in allelds of knowledge, was the rst to organise human understanding in the garden of knowl-edge. Hercules, as his disciple, advanced from lesser knowledge to higher knowledge, untilhe nally conquered philosophy, the queen of all disciplines, therein even surpassing Atlashimself. Hercules then taught his wisdom to all who wished to partake of it (Jung, 1966,pp. 910).

    Apart from the literary adaptations of the tales of Hercules, which were meant for edi-cation, the legend of Atlas and Hercules was discussed in mythographical treatises, whichtook on a variety of forms. As learned commentaries on the classics, or as self-standingreference works, such mythographical writings owed from the pens of humanist authors,many of whom could be described as professional mythographers. These writings were notonly useful reference tools for artists and other authors, but were also very popular withhumanistically educated contemporaries. The aim of the mythographers was to bringtogether and classify as completely as possible the contents of well known and lesserknown antique texts. These were supplemented with extant antique or medieval commen-taries, as well as sources newly discovered at time of the Renaissance.25 Some of thesemythographical books were immensely successfula notable example was the collection

    23 Cf. Heninger (1977), pp. 178179.24 See Salutati (1951), pp. 308315, especially p. 313. This is, incidentally, one of the rare cases where adistinction is made between astronomy and astrology, in that both are named (nec solum astronomie sedastrologie . . . studiosus, ibid., p. 309).25 On the topics of the mythographers and the inuence of their writings see Allen (1970), pp. 201202; cf. Seznec

    (1961), pp. 279323.

  • Fig. 3. Cuningham (1559), p. 50, Coelifer Atlas (from Remmert, 2005, p. 133).

    V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362 335

  • by Natale Conti (15201582), which rst appeared in 1567 in Venice with the title Myth-ologiae, sive explicationum fabularum, libri tredicem. By 1669, Contis compilation hadgone through thirty-one editions (DiMatteo, 1994, p. xiv). He reports all the common fea-tures of the encounter between Atlas and Hercules: Atlas ruled over Mauritania this time,and Hercules relieved him temporarily of the burden of the celestial globe. Conti takes theusual meaning, that in doing so Hercules learned astronomy from Atlas (res astronomicas& stellarum motus Hercules ab Atlante didicerit) (Conti, 1976, . 104v, 105r, 206r, 210v,

    336 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362211r, quotation from f. 105r).Equally well known was the compilation De deorum imaginibus libellus written by Albri-

    cus, dating back to the twelfth century and rst appearing as a printed work around 1500.This text, alongside those of Hyginius and Fulgentius, was included in dierent mytho-graphical collections right up to the eighteenth century. In the chapter on Hercules, thereis a report of the encounter with Atlas.26 This Atlas, too, was renowned as an astrologer.Hercules, who had willingly taken the celestial globe from Atlas, was not depicted as hisdisciple in this version, but as someone already very skilled in astronomy (Hercules etiamfuit astrorum artis multum edoctus). The seventeenth-century publisher Thomas Munc-ker, in a footnote, refers to the eminent fourth-century Aeneas commentary by MaurusServius Honoratus, who also considered Atlas as the rst astronomer and Hercules againas his disciple.27

    On the foundations of the literary and mythographical background of the AtlasHer-cules pair briey sketched out here, there evolved a whole gamut of classical interpreta-tions in emblem books of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Here the moralisticpotential of antique mythology was cultivated and used for new ends. For this purpose,the encounter between Hercules and Atlas took on a new dimension. This is found exem-plary in the frequently reprinted emblem book of Achille Bocchi (14881562), Symbolica-rum quaestionum de universo genere quas serio ludebat libri quinque, that rst appeared inBologna in 1555. Bocchi, for his symbol CX, chose the encounter between Atlas and Her-cules so as to present the vita activa in opposition to the vita contemplativa.28 In the com-position of his emblem, Bocchi followed the division into three parts, Inscriptio, Picturaand Subscriptio, as had been customary since Alciatis Emblematum liber of 1531. Underthe motto the glory of all virtue lies in action (Virtutis omnis est in actione laus), Bocchiput an image of Atlas and Hercules together with a globe of the Earth, in the form of anarmillary sphere, which they are both measuring (Fig. 4). In the background stands a treein the shape of a Y as a symbol for the virtuous Hercules, who, in Bocchis opinion, madethe right choice at the crossroads, namely for the vita activa. The image shows Atlasturning towards knowledge codied in books, while Hercules takes on the role of activemeasurer. Bocchi leaves us in no doubt about how to interpret the picture: One watches,the other acts (hic videt, alter agit). And then he immediately concludes that whoeverwishes to become a true Hercules must pursue his goal righteously and stubbornly with

    26 Albrici philosophi de deorum imaginibus libellus, in (Muncker, 1681, Vol. 2, pp. 301330); Ch. 22 concernsHercules (ibid., pp. 323329). Munckers book was a reworking of Commelinus (1599). On the dissemination ofDe deorum imaginibus libellus cf. Allen (1970), pp. 213214; Seznec (1961), pp. 170 .27 Muncker (1681), Vol. II, p. 329; Serviuss commentary on Aeneis, IV, 745. Elsewhere in this commentary (I,78) Servius portrays Hercules as a philosopher (Constat enim Herculem philosophum fuisse); cited from Servius-Commentary in the edition of Virgil (1600), p. 220.

    28 See Bocchi (1555), pp. CCXXXf, symbol CX. On Bocchi see Watson (1993).

  • V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362 337unshakeable mind and a fearless spirit.29 Bocchi makes the point again clearly in the indexwhere, under the heading Hercules, we nd: Hercules acts and Atlas observes (Herculesagit, Atlas speculatur).

    Fig. 4. Bocchi (1555), p. CCXXX, symbol CX, Hercules and Atlas measuring the world (from Remmert, 2005, p.137).

    29 Verus hic Alcides solida est qui mente, animoque / Impavido, iustus propositique tenax (Bocchi, 1555, p.CCXXXI).

  • The symbol CX was dedicated to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (15201589), the grand-son of Pope Paul III. The Herculean qualities Bocchi had described as so praiseworthy,were thus attributed to Alessandro Farnese, who pursued his goal to follow his grandfa-ther as ponti through seven conclaves with perseverance, although without success.30

    Since the middle of the sixteenth century the Farnese had striven determinedly to associatethemselves with the symbol of Hercules. The reason for choosing Hercules was presum-ably the familys attempt to promote its Roman tradition (Romanita`). And, during thelater part of the sixteenth century, the Farnese family wanted to align with the Habsburgswho,antiqtainedteenththe P

    338 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362a family symbol. The contrast made by Bocchi between the vita activa and the vita contem-plativa is reiterated in two frescoes there by Annibale Carracci: in one, the resting Herculesstands for the repose of the hero after his labour (vita activa); in the other, reverence forthe virtues of the vita contemplativa is shown by depicting Hercules who, under the watch-ful gaze of Ptolemy and Euclid, bears the Globe and has thereby taken over the role ofAtlas.32

    Hercules, with his qualities of virtue and action, was particularly suitable as a symbol inemblem books, especially given the richness and density of the Hercules tradition.33 Incomparison, his encounter with Atlas only plays a subordinate role in emblematic litera-ture.34 Naturally, Atlas and Hercules were often mentioned in those parts of treatises andtextbooks that dealt with the history of astronomy. A typical overview of the historicaldevelopment of astronomy is given by Joseph Moxon (16271700) in his Discourse ofthe antiquity, progress and augmentation of astronomy. This short treatise was publishedas an appendix to the second edition of his translation of William Janszoon Blaeus Insti-tutio astronomica (A tutor to astronomie and geographie, London, 1670). Moxon, referringto the classical authors, presents a standard version of the encounter between Atlas andHercules, noting that Hercules had succeeded Atlas in that dicult task, the Study, or sci-ence of Coelestial bodies.35 In his conclusion, Moxon underlines his admiration of TychoBrahe, who ought to be as highly esteemed by us and all Posterity. He drew a compar-ison, which resonates with all the AtlasHercules symbolism:

    For my part, truly, since Hipparchus may rightfully be called Atlas the Second: I shalldo but justice to name Tycho, Hercules the Second, who relieving his Predecessor,long languishing and ready to faint under so prodigious a burden; which doubtlesswas the Reason, why Kepler called him, the Modern Hipparchus.36

    30 On the Farnese see Volkel (1992).31 On the role played by Hercules with the Farnese see Merz (1994), pp. 97101; on Atlas alias Hercules Farnesesee Liebenwein (1996), p. 13.32 See exhibition catalogue The drawings of Annibale Carracci (2000), p. 135; Ginzburg Carignani (2000), p. 81.33 See the numerous references to Hercules in Henkel & Schone (1996), pp. 11971199, 16411654; cf. Bagley(1996); Callahan (1990).34 See above all Picinelli (1654), pp. 7879, and the expanded Latin translation, Picinelli (1681), pp. 156158.35 Moxon (1670), pp. 233271, quotation from p. 237; on Moxon see Johns (1998), pp. 79 .

    36 Mofrom the time of Charles V, had promoted the use of Hercules as their symbol. Theue collection of the Farnese included a number of statues of Hercules; and it also con-a statue of Atlas with a globe, famous today as the Atlas Farnese, but in the six-century it was known as the Hercules Farnese.31 The iconographic programme of

    alazzo Farnese in Rome also illustrates the desire of the Farnese to make Herculesxon (1670), p. 271; original emphasis.

  • Tycho Brahe breathed new life into astronomy and had achieved a well deserved apothe-osis. This Danish nobleman and astronomer was indeed worthy of comparison with Her-cules, who had gained immortality through his labours.

    The qualities of Hercules were extolled extensively in the early modern period: hispraises were sung, he was written about, his image appeared in numerous places and he

    3. Ty

    Tyembl(Fig.and frepre

    V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362 339ludens, contributing enigmatic diversions to humanist parlour games or displaying theuplifting qualities of his creativity. The intention was much more practical. For scholarswho sought princely or royal patronage, or wanted to retain it, the eort to set themselvesup in the right cultural context, to make clear to potential sponsors their own specicimportance, and the importance and utility of their particular discipline, was part of every-

    37 Erasmus of Rotterdam, Adagia, III.1.1, quoted in Phillips (1964), p. 194. On the comparison of Erasmus withHercules see Callahan (1990).38 Erasmus of Rotterdam, Adagia, III.1.1, quoted in Phillips (1964), p. 191.39 Wilamowitz-Mollendor (1895), p. 38: Mensch gewesen, Gott geworden; Muhen erduldet, Himmel

    erworbcho Brahe and the use of images

    cho Brahe (15461601) was a member of the Danish high nobility, and images andems were an intrinsic part of his life, as is shown in an engraved portrait of 15865). Humanistically educated and closely associated with the court and its habitsashions, he was constantly concerned with which symbolic associations would bestsent his personality and achievements. What lay behind this was not the aim of a homowas presented as an example for others to emulate. The numbers of positive aspects ofhis character were legion. Erasmus of Rotterdam was among the most prominent of thosewho invited comparison between their own person and that of Hercules, and saw his owndiligent humanistic work as a Herculean labour. In his Adagia there is a long chapter onthe labours of Hercules, where he writes:

    If any human labours ever deserved to be called Herculean, it is certainly the work ofthose who are striving to restore the great works of ancient literatureof true liter-ature. While, in fact, they condemn themselves to immense toil, owing to the incred-ible diculty of the task, they arouse among the vulgar the greatest envy and ill will.Great attempts always have been subject to this, not only amongst the ignorant buteven with the learned.37

    These words reverberated in the milieu of humanists and scholars. Many scholars, astron-omers among them, saw that their work mostly beneted others, with little reward forthemselves. As Erasmus put it, those are said to be the labours of Hercules whichare of a kind to bring the greatest advantage to others, and little or no prot to the doer,except a little fame and a lot of envy.38 At the same time, these noble acts may bring aboutan apotheosis or immortality and acceptance into the Olympian heights of the learnedsages. The more or less openly acknowledged personal hopes of those early modern schol-ars who wanted to set themselves on a par with Hercules, were encapsulated by the scholarof ancient culture, Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Mollendor, at the end of the nineteenth cen-tury, who wrote of Hercules: once a man and now a god; he endured great troubles togain heaven.39en.

  • 340 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362day life. And this was true for the blue-blooded Brahe, even though he operated at a highand wealthy social level.40 Expert self-presentation and self-fashioning were indispensableelements in successful patronage strategies. Brahe had taken the art of self-fashioning to alevel of perfection that, among scientists, could only be rivalled by Galileo.41Accordingly,he enjoyed generous patronage from the Danish King, Frederick II.

    Fig. 5. Brahe (1596), portrait of Brahe by Jacques de Gheyn (from Remmert, 2005, p. 143).

    40 See e.g. Biagioli (1993), pp. 1430.41 Details in Christianson (2000); cf. Thoren (1990). On self-fashioning see Greenblatt (1980), pp. 19. For acritical assessment of the concept see Martin (1997).

  • When Brahe decided to pursue astronomy instead of a standard career in the service ofthe Danish crown, his decision was received favourably by the king, Frederick II, who pro-vided him with the island of Hven as a basis for an astronomical research centre, as well asthe considerable funding he needed to build what were to become the famous Uraniborgand Stjerneborg observatories there. In a style appropriate to his aristocratic position, and

    V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362 341with much energy and organisational and artistic skill, Brahe turned the island into anacknowledged centre for astronomical research. Its scientic and cultural fame soonspread beyond the borders of Denmark, which, as the king had hoped, brought consider-able glory to the Danish crown. Eminent visitors from home and abroad, among themroyalty, came to visit Uraniborg. Brahe was often so engaged in entertaining his gueststhat at times he had to entrust the entire astronomical work to his assistants.

    The visitors were fascinated by the enormous astronomical instruments at Uraniborgand Stjerneborg, and also by the major astronomical work that was being done there.It attracted a great many scholars and students, and some stayed for years as Brahes assis-tants. But what caught the attention of some visitors was Brahes alchemical showpieces,and even more, the world of images and emblems he had created, which, in the view ofChristianson, was without equal in the whole of northern Europe.42 On the inhospitableisland of Hven, Brahe had built a virtual temple to Urania, the muse of astronomy, fullof pictures and sculptures giving expression to the glorication of astronomy. It is not nec-essary to give a detailed account of Brahes iconographic programme here; but it includedmaterial describing the mythological background of astronomy and the construction ofastronomical tradition, the latter in the form of a canon of authorities beginning with Hip-parchus and ending with Brahe himself. Brahe documented his world of images andemblems substantially, best of all in his slender volume Astronomiae instauratae mechanica(Wandsbek, 1598), which contains numerous engravings of the instruments and a metic-ulous description of Uraniborg and Stjerneborg.

    At the end of June 1586, the young Danish queen, Sophie, together with her entourage,which included Brahes mother, paid a visit to Hven. As well as viewing a splendid spec-tacle carefully prepared by Brahe, there was a thorough guided tour of Uraniborg and thenew observatory of Stjerneborg, which had been completed the previous year. Brahe con-ducted the queen through his own kingdom, explaining the iconography and Latin epi-grams, and expounding on his view of the history of astronomy.43 The setting for mostof Brahes astronomical expositions was appropriately Stjerneborg, the undergroundobservatory that was the centre of the astronomical work on Hven.

    Stjerneborg was entered through an Ionic portal (Fig. 6, letter A). A few steps led toa small heated room, which provided access to the ve crypts containing astronomi-cal instruments (Fig. 6, letter B). The painted walls and ceiling of this entry room,portrayed Brahes view of the past, present and future of astronomy. According to Brahesdescription in the Epistolarum astronomicarum libri of 1596, each of the four walls bore theportraits of two illustrious astronomers: Timocharis and Hipparchus; Ptolemy and al-Battan; King Alfonso the Wise of Castille and Copernicus; and Brahe and a yet unborn

    42 Christianson (2000), p. 110; on the importance of emblematic elements in the life of the court see Biagioli(1990), pp. 235236.

    43 On Queen Sophies visit see Christianson (2000), pp. 107113.

  • Fig. 6. Brahe (1598), engraving: layout of the Stjerneborg (from Remmert, 2005, p. 145).

    342 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362

  • astronomer, Tychonides, who would complete Brahes work.44 Each portrait was adornedby two illuminated scrolls. Brahe himself appears to leave judgement of his work to pos-terity (Iudicium Posteritatis). But this is qualied by the fact that in the portrait of Brahe,he is pointing out of the painting towards the ceiling, to a fresco depicting his own Tych-onic model of the universe and asking: What if it were so? (Quid si sic?), thus preguringthe basis of any future judgement. This question would later be quoted by Kepler in thefrontispiece of his Tabulae Rudolphinae (Fig. 9), and also by John Wilkins, who has Coper-nicus asking it in the frontispiece to his Discourse concerning a new world (London,1640).45 Tychonides, the imaginary successor to Brahe, was seen to be the last in the tra-ditional line of astronomers who would continue the labours of these Atlases.46

    After passing through this antechamber depicting Brahes view of the development ofastronomy, the colossal labours of the mythological Atlas were to be found in the largestof the ve crypts. This lay to the south, directly opposite the entrance to the Stjerneborg(Fig. 6, letter C). Here, since the summer of 1585, stood the great equatorial armillarysphere, the showpiece of Brahes instruments, xed on a globe of the heavens, whichwas itself supported by the royal Atlas (Fig. 7).47 Everyone entering the room came face

    V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362 343to face King Atlas, supporting the heavens on his shoulders. Visiting royalty wouldencounter one of their ownAtlas, king of Mauritania, who was more than any other sui-ted to emphasise the nobility of astronomy. Brahe did not fail to draw attention to thisconnection in the corresponding inscription, which underlines the fact that the royalart of astronomy is deserving of royal patronage.48 In Brahes Stjerneborg, the exploita-tion of Atlas in the service of early modern astronomy achieved a brilliant and eectiveclimax. This symbolically laden Atlas was seamlessly attached to Brahes rich visual exal-tation of astronomy in Hven. Brahes visual strategies were not without eectQueenSophie was suciently impressed by Brahes island to make a return visit the same year.49

    But one may suspect that rather more lay behind Brahes use of the Atlas symbol.Brahes iconographic programme, and the explicit reference to Atlas in connection withTychonides, pointed to a clear parallel between Brahe and Atlas. This was no more thanto be expected, since many of his contemporaries compared Brahe with Atlas, in thesame way that many astronomers had already been so compared, and as others later

    44 A description of the paintings is in Brahe (1596); what follows is taken from Brahe (1919), pp. 250295, herepp. 256257, 272276); cf. Christianson (2000), pp. 107109; Thoren (1990), pp. 184186.45 Brahe (1919), pp. 275276. See Remmert (2005), Chs. 3.1 and 6.3.46 Brahe (1919), p. 275: Te, venerandae Parens, tuaque alta Inventa sequentem Det DEUS, Athlantumcontinuare vices.47 worin Athlantis Regis Mauretaniae Gleichnu kunstlich augehawen ist / al wan er den Himmel huletragen, cited from Brahe (1919), p. 258; for a description of the instruments, ibid., pp. 257258 and 276278;Brahe (1598), unpaginated: Armillae aequatoriae maximae sesquialtero constantes circulo; cf. Thoren (1990), pp.174176; Zinner (1943), pp. 298299; see Krifka (2000), pp. 420421.48 Brahe (1919), p. 278: Quo Hieroglyphico innuitur, quod Reges & Principes sublimem hanc & vere RegiamAstronomiae Artem fulcire & liberaliter sustenare merito deberent, quemabmodum Atlas ille multique alij olimfecerunt; & superiori aevo liberalitate illustri & vix unquam obliteranada, ALPHONSVS Rex Hispaniae hanc,quantum in ipso erat, promovit.49 Christianson (2000), p. 112. Sophie was not the only royal guest: in March 1590 the Scottish King James IVpaid a visit to Hven and in the summer of 1592 the young Danish monarch Christian IV came to be shown

    around Brahes world.

  • Fig. 7. Brahe (1598), engraving: King Atlas supports the great Equatorial Armillary of 1585 (from Remmert, 2005,p. 147).

    344 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362

  • would beGalileo, for example, became a much praised Atlas after his telescopic discov-eries of 1610.50 Brahes self-fashioning, however, went much further; not only did he self-consciously present himself as being of the same standing as Ptolemy, al-Battan andCopernicus, if not surpassing them, but he continually promoted his own role as the kingof astronomy, a new royal Atlas. This may be seen as merely an expression of arrogance,but itdemoand econtilastindeatheventit, froimpoimpoabove the interests of the monarchy. His clearly recognisable identication with King

    V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362 345Atlas was emblematic of this process. The young Christian IV, crowned in 1596, and con-cerned with consolidating his own power, must have found Brahes attitude extremely irri-tating. Brahes arrogance about his own scientic brilliance contributed to his downfall,and he left Denmark in June 1597 to seek service with the German emperor Rudolf IIin Prague (Christianson, 2000, pp. 206, 215).

    That Brahe nally succeeded in obtaining the favour of Rudolf II was due to his noblebirth and his good connections with the court of Prague, as well as his skilful ways of deal-ing with patrons.51 In the autumn of 1597, when his future was still uncertain, Brahe com-posed an elegy to Denmark (Ad Daniam elegia), in which he complains in a dejectedvoice of his fate and his unwonted and undeserved exile. In composing the elegy, he didnot however lose sight of his goal of obtaining the patronage of Rudolf II. Given theHabsburgs attachment to Hercules symbolism his earlier identication of himself withAtlas was no longer opportune and some modication was required. True as always tohis character, Brahe was not shy of showing himself in the best light:

    Scarcely has anyone [in Denmark] taken note of my achievements,Though they rival Herculess in number.The son of Alceus went to the aid of a weary Atlas (so the story goes),Lest the great fame of the pole fall headlong to earth:I myself stop to remedy your errors, Ptolemy,And yours, Alfonso and Copernicus.Though the wheel of the heavens has eluded your pains,I have expounded it clearly, though this concern were daunting.I have rmed the ceiling of heaven with new posts,Lest it soon take on cracks, lest it fall down.

    50 Comparisons between Brahe and Atlas can be found in Brahe (1919), pp. 57; Resen (1668), pp. 354364; onGalilei as Atlas see Remmert (1998), p. 24.

    51 Onwas to have more serious political consequences, as Christianson has convincinglynstrated. Brahe was greatly concerned about the future of his foundation in Hven,specially the observatories of Uraniborg and Stjerneborg. He wanted to ensure theirnuation after his own time, and tried to get the Danish crown to enter into a long-g commitment to support these expensive astronomical centres. However, with theof his patron Frederick II in April 1588 and his succession by Christian IV, Braheually fell from grace. During Fredericks reign, Brahe had risen, as Christianson putm the standing of a high-ranking courtier to that of an over mighty subjecta self-rtant who dared to make demands on the Danish crown, being so convinced of thertance of his scientic work that it seemed incontestable to him that it should standBrahes search for a new patron see Christianson (2000), pp. 207236; Thoren (1990), pp. 376415.

  • Posterity will testify likewise with a grateful voice,Though gratitude for me is now silent.52

    Here Brahe is clearly distancing himself from his anity with Atlas. Henceforth he wasHercules, who triumphed over King Atlasor strictly speaking, over the three Atlases,namely Ptolemy, King Alfonso and Copernicusand, not insignicantly, achievedimmortality through his labours. This new version of things was endorsed by Brahesson-in-law and long-time assistant Frans Gansneb Genaamd Tengnagel van de Camp(15761622) in a dedicatory ode appearing in the Astronomiae instauratae mechanica.The volume, published in 1598, was mainly intended to serve as a patronage artefact.Accordingly, its production and distribution was entirely, and indeed successfully, organ-

    1418.54 BragloriaHercul

    346 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362he (1598), unpaginated: Tu vero, cui mens Divis contermina, adesdum j TYCHO, Danorum celeberrimagentis: j Talia te placuit Superis obstacla videre j Viribus humanis cedentia; ferque labori j Subsidiumised so as to win the goodwill of Rudolf II, to whom the volume was dedicated.53 Theyoung Tengnagel praised Brahehis master probably guiding his penas the glory ofthe Danish people and declared that Brahe had, like Hercules, taken on himself the la-bours that Atlas was no longer able to bear.54 Brahe, at the height of his intellectual pow-ers and creative genius, oers himself in service to Rudolf II, who as a Habsburg wouldnaturally want to take such a Hercules into his service.

    In this conception, the Atlases, Ptolemy, Alfonso and Copernicus, represented the oldastronomy, which had not been based on such long-lasting and systematic observations asBrahe himself had undertaken. Furthermore, these Atlases, in Brahes view, had not beenable to develop convincing systems of the world. Brahe no longer wished to think in Ptol-emaic or Copernican terms, but designed his own model of the universe. Imbued with theunique importance of his own achievements, he consciously styled himself as he who hadtaken on the mantle of Hercules and become the standard-bearer of the new astronomy.By the time he eventually entered the service of Rudolf II in 1599, he had remade himselfto t the Herculean garment.

    It is hardly surprising therefore, that long after his death, Brahe was described byJoseph Moxon as a second Hercules, since Brahe himself had encouraged this opinion.The Jesuit Albert Curtz (16001671), who had dedicated twenty years of his lifes workto the publication of Brahes manuscripts, could not escape Brahes Herculean symbolismeither. Under the pseudonym Lucius Barrettus, he published the fruit of his painstakingwork in 1666 as Historia coelestis and dutifully dedicated it to the four Habsburgs who,in his opinion, shared responsibility for the project. The frontispiece of Historia coelestisshows four emperors sitting together, cherubs at their feet supporting globes of the Earthand the Heavens. The four are, from left to right, Rudolf II, who had accepted Brahe intohis court, Ferdinand II, under whose patronage Kepler had revised the Rudolphine

    52 Cited from Brahe (1919), pp. 208211, here pp. 209210: Vix aliqui nostros ibi suspexere labores, j Herculeisquamvis aequiparare licet. j Alcides feo (ut referunt) subvenit Atlanti, j Ne rueret praeceps machina vasta poli: jAt Ptolemaee tuis, Alphonse, Copernice, vestris j Lapsibus occurrens ipse ego sisto pedes. j Ut Coeli vestramdeluserit orbita curam, j Edocui, licet haec cura stupenda foret. j Firmavique novis Coeli laquaeria fulcris, j Necapiat rimas postmodo, nece ruat. j Posteritas grato veluti testabitur ore, j Gratia sit nostro tempore muta licet.Text and English translation in Greenway (1998), p. 64; a rather free English translation is in Christianson (2000),pp. 216217.53 On the context of Astronomiae instauratae mechanica see Christianson (2000), pp. 219224; Johns (1998), pp.eo, quem non bene pertulit Atlas.

  • V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362 347Tables, Ferdinand III, to whom credit was due for having given protection to Brahesmanuscripts, and the then reigning monarch, Leopold I (Fig. 8).55 In the middle of the pic-ture, between Ferdinand II and Ferdinand III, the back curtain is parted to reveal the top-most gure in the plate, a statuesque depiction of Hercules resting after his labours, butstill showing his athletic body to endorse the vita activa. Is this the Habsburg Herculesor is it Brahe himself, who contentedly looks down from Olympia on the fruits of hislabours? If so, Brahes strategy paid o.

    4. Brahes legacy: Atlas and Hercules as representatives of the old and the new astronomy

    Brahes death in October 1601 signalled the end of a long-term astronomical researchproject. But the records of his observations became the basis of important studies and pub-lications in the following years. Among his more than fty students and assistants, two inparticular were outstanding in their work and publications, namely Willem JanszoonBlaeu (15711638) and Johannes Kepler (15711630). Blaeu had been Brahes assistantin Hven in 1595/1596, and his celestial globe, which later brought him fame and wealth,was based on Brahes observations. Kepler had worked with Brahe in Bohemia and after

    Fig. 8. Brahe (1666), frontispiece by Philipp Kilian (from Remmert, 2005, p. 151).

    55 On the frontispiece of Historia coelestis see the comments in Ashworth (1991), pp. 155159; Johns (1998), p.21.

  • Brahes death had taken over his oce as Imperial Mathematician. With the publicationof his Tabulae Rudolphinae in 1627, an important part of Brahes legacy became availableto the general public.56 Both Blaeu and Kepler paid their respects to Brahe, in images aswell as words. The frontispiece of the Tabulae Rudolphinae, for example, was the equiva-lent of a reverential genuection to Brahe, without, however, the use of the HerculesAtlassymbolism (Fig. 9). Nevertheless, the representation of Brahe shows that Kepler was wellversed in his emblematic world, and the picture follows the iconography in the Stjerneborg

    348 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362observatory closely. Brahe is portrayed leaning against a column with a Corinthian capitaland pointing towards his model of the universe depicted on the ceiling, he gazes towardsCopernicus and asks, Quid si sic?.57 Blaeu for his part, as will be seen, took over BrahesHercules symbolism in his printers mark.

    Johannes Bayers Uranometria also paid homage to Brahes astronomical and pictoriallegacy. Not only was the data for his star catalogue based on Brahes observations, butfurthermore the frontispiece was heavily imbued with Brahes AtlasHercules symbolism,even to the extent of identifying Brahe with the virtuous hero Hercules (Fig. 1). As earlierpointed out, Atlas was represented on the left side of the plate by a gure reminiscent ofPtolemy. Both Atlas and Ptolemy symbolised the old astronomy. On the right hand side ofthe picture, opposite or opposed to Atlas/Ptolemy, Hercules, having learnt about the oldastronomy from his mentors, now stands as a representation of the new astronomy. Thatthis Hercules was meant to represent Brahe can be deduced not only from the fact thatBayer had used Brahes observations, but also from a remark in the foreword that drewattention to Brahes detailed examination of the work of his predecessors, Hipparchus,Ptolemy, Alfonso and Copernicus.58 But over and above these indirect indications, theHercules in the picture has an unmistakable feature that identies him with Brahenamely, his nose.

    Brahe had lost the bridge of his nose in a duel in Rostock in December 1566. Soon afterthe wound healed, he began to experiment with prostheses, so as to hide the disgurement.This is easy to see in the known portraits because in them his nose has a characteristicshape (Fig. 10) (Thoren, 1990, pp. 2226); (Christianson, 2000, pp. 89, 114117). ThatBrahe wore a prosthesis was well known through the widely distributed portraits in hisbooks, for example the Epistolarum astronomicarum libri of 1596, and from the countlessanecdotes that were told about it. It was also common knowledge in Augsburg, where theUranometria was printed. Brahe had spent fourteen months there, from spring 1569 to thespring of 1570, and had established close and enduring contacts in the city.59

    In the frontispiece of the Uranometria, Bayer chose Brahes characteristic nose as a signthat Hercules, the representative of the new astronomy, stood for Brahe (Fig. 11). It couldbe argued that the noses of Hercules and Brahe happened to be similar by coincidence ordue to a quirk of the engraving or a lack of artistic skill; but that seems unlikely, not onlyon artistic groundsthe drawing is too skilfully done to allow for a graphical error of this

    56 The best description of Brahes network of students, with short biographies, will be found in Christianson(2000).57 This frontispiece has been frequently discussed. The best study is Arnulf (20002001).58 Bayer (1603), Candido lectori, unpaginated: Sunt ex descriptionibus, Hipparchi, Ptolemaei, Alphonsi, &Copernici; per Tychonem Brahe ad trutinam examinatae.

    59 He came to Augsburg a second time, in the autumn of 1575: see Thoren (1990), pp. 3035, 97.

  • V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362 349kind, especially on such a prominent feature of its subjectbut also because in these typesof symbol ridden depictions, the identication of Brahe with Hercules would be knownand easily recognised. Such an interpretation of the frontispiece of Uranometria provides

    Fig. 9. Kepler (1627), frontispiece by Georg Celer (from Remmert, 2005, p. 59).

  • 350 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362impressive evidence of the success of Brahes self-fashioning and also of the general appealof personifying the old and the new astronomy with images associated with Atlas andHercules. Who was assigned the role of who in such images varied according to the subjectbeing depicted and the current interpretational trends. The way the frontispieces of worksby Andrea Argoli (15701657), for example, changed over time illustrates this point.

    The life of Argoli has been only sketchily documented, but he was one of the mostprominent and prolic of the Italian astronomers and astrologers of the rst half of theseventeenth century. His reputation among his contemporaries rested both on his astrolog-ical writings, which were especially concerned with the use of astrology in medicine, andon his ephemerides, which won him the esteem of posterity. Although he was initiallyheavily inuenced by Brahe, he later broke with the Tychonic system and promoted, cer-tainly from 1629, his own model of the universe, inspired by Martianus Capella, in whichMercury and Venus orbit the Sun, while Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the Sun orbit theEarth.60

    Fig. 10. Brahe (1596), portrait of Brahe by Jacques de Gheyn, detail: Brahes nose (from Remmert, 2005, p. 143).

    60 On Argoli see Gingerich (19701990); Gliozzi (1962); I am not aware of any bibliography of Argoli. His booksand almanacs appeared in more than thirty dierent editions.

  • V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362 351This development was reected in the frontispieces of Argolis publications from 1610on, in which AtlasHercules symbolism is used repeatedly. The frontispiece of his Tabulaeprimi mobilis, published in Rome by Facciotti in 1610, draws a great deal from thefrontispiece of Bayers Uranometria and in particular from the Brahe AtlasHerculesassociation (Fig. 12). Atlas and Hercules have been copied along with the inscriptions thatexplain the teacherdisciple relationship; and Brahes nose is likewise replicated on theHercules gure. The tympanum and pedestal were changed so as to sing the praises ofMarcantonio Colonna (15351584) who had led the papal eet in the much gloried battleof Lepanto in 1571. The work was dedicated to his descendant, Marcantonio Colonna IV(d. 1611).

    Almost thirty years later, a heavy tome by Argoli on the use of the mathematical sci-ences in medicine was published under the title De diebus criticis et de aegrorum decubitulibri duo (Padua, 1639). In it, he provided an introduction to astrology and gave detailedexplanations of the use of the astrological methods found in medicine (Sudho, 1902, pp.7980). The frontispiece was a crude copy of the frontispiece of the 1610 Tabulae primimobilis (Fig. 13). While both Atlas and Hercules are depicted as in the 1610 version andclearly identied, they appear without the explanatory inscriptions. There is also an inter-esting change in the symbolism, for above Atlas and Hercules appear small portraits ofBrahe and Argoli respectively. Brahe is here no longer identied with Hercules represent-ing the new astronomy; he is instead placed with Atlas and the old astronomy. In theengraving, it is Argoli himself who is identied with Hercules, the propagator of thenew true model of the universe. But despite this reversal of roles, the content, and even

    Fig. 11. Bayer (1603), frontispiece, detail: Hercules nose (from Remmert, 2005, p. 127).

  • 352 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362the lineage, of the frontispiece clearly acknowledges that Argoli had learnt from Brahe andhad built on his observations.61

    Fig. 12. Argoli (1610), frontispiece (from Remmert, 2005, p. 153).

    61 The discussion of these frontispieces by Wolfgang Harms (1978, pp. 334335) is restricted to the aspect of howto gain authority.

  • V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362 353This was not Argolis last use of the AtlasHercules symbol. His three volume Ephemer-ides of 1648 had a frontispiece in which Atlas, under the watchful eye of Urania, hands thecelestial globe over to Hercules (Fig. 14). The Y-shaped tree growing up between Atlas and

    Fig. 13. Argoli (1639), frontispiece (from Remmert, 2005, p. 153).

  • Fig. 14. Argoli (1648), frontispiece of Vol. I (from Remmert, 2005, p. 155).

    354 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362

  • a stone column calls to mind the virtuous character of Hercules. At the base of the column,to the lower right of the picture, a cherub is trying to lift up an armillary sphere that can beseen to represent either the Ptolemaic or the Copernican models of the universe.62 But theeorts of the cherub are in vain, since Atlas and Hercules are obviously occupied with anentirely dierent model of the universe, presumably that of Argoli. Although Argoli didnot give an explanation of the meaning of his frontispiece, he did provide a couple of hintsin a brief text in the rst volume that may suggest an interpretation. In the short chapteron the origin and excellence of astronomy (De origine, et praestantia Astronomiae) hesays, with reference to Augustine and Diodorus of Sicily, that Atlas had passed on hisknowledge to Hercules.63 In the preface he explains that in the beginning of the book

    V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362 355he is going to present four models of the universethose of Ptolemy, Copernicus, Braheand his own (Argoli, 1648, Vol. I, Ad lectorem). In the fth chapter, he presents the fourmodels of the universe in diagrams, the most attractive of which was that of his own sys-tem. The Copernican system, Argoli explained, had the Sun at the centre and was henceforbidden by the Church (Argoli, 1648, Vol. I, pp. 2, 12). There remained now two opin-ions, Brahes and Argolis. For Argoli, as we have seen, Brahe belonged to the line of rep-resentatives of the old astronomy. Argoli had learned from Brahe, in the same way thatHercules had learned from Atlas, and Argoli paid homage to Brahe in the long title ofthe Ephemerides: Ex Tychonis Brahe Hypotheses, ac deductas e` Caelo accurate` observat-iones. He based the Ephemerides however on his own model of the universe (SystemaArgoli) (Argoli, 1648, Vol. I, pp. 1415). Argoli himself now tted the role of Hercules,taking on the burden of the new model of the universe. Even when taking over theAtlasHercules symbolism in a way dierent from Brahe, the two mythical gures con-tinue to play their roles as representatives of an old and a new astronomy.

    Echoes of Brahes Hercules symbolism are also found with Willem Janszoon Blaeu.64

    Blaeu had spent six months on Hven at the age of twenty-four and was greatly inuencedby Brahes astronomical and emblematic thinking. Later he founded his own printingworks in Amsterdam, where he named the presses after the nine muses, and his famousmaps and atlases were richly adorned with iconographic and emblematic puzzles and hid-den messages, so much so, that a whole treatise could be dedicated to them. The printersmark that Blaeu used from about 1620, with slight variations, referred to Brahes Herculessymbolism (Fig. 15).65 To the left and right of an armillary sphere, with the inscriptionIndefessus agendo, stand Chronos and Hercules. Whereas Chronos was always depictedwith wings, hourglass and scythe, there were two versions of Hercules. Either the hero,identiable by his cudgel and lion pelt, was resting or he was shown struggling with themany headed Hydra.

    62 Though the armillary sphere in pictorial representations in the seventeenth century increasingly came to beused as a symbol of geocentric systems; see Zinner (1943), pp. 483484; cf. Remmert (2005).63 Argoli (1648), Vol. 1, p. 2. Harms mentions the frontispiece, but does not explain it (Harms, 1978, p. 337).64 On Blaeu see Christianson (2000), pp. 254256; Donkersloot-de Vrij (1992); Keuning (1973); Stevenson(1914).

    65 On Blaeus printers mark, see Donkersloot-de Vrij (1992), p. 25; Stevenson (1914), pp. 16, 59.

  • Fig. 15. Blaeu (1634), printers mark of Blaeu (from Remmert, 2005, p. 16).

    356 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362

  • Chronos represented many qualities, but in the early modern period was mostly asso-ciated with the measurement of time, with reason and with truth.66 The topos of time, seenas the progenitor of truth (veritas lia temporis) or leading her by the hand (veritatemtempus manuducit) enjoyed great popularity.67 Setting Chronos and Hercules together inBlaeus printers mark contained a message that goes beyond the simple reference to timemeasurement and heavy labours in the service of science and astronomy, as might seemnatural in works on cartography. Chronos assured victory to the truth brought forth byHercules: namely, the new astronomy. Blaeus motto Indefessus agendo underpins thishigh demand on Hercules. The motto comes from Ovids Metamorphoses (Bk. IX, ll.198199). As Hercules, the never tiring virtuous hero (and astronomer), is literally tornlimb from limb as a result of Heras intrigue, he recalls again, as he lies dying, the labours

    V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362 357he has accomplished and calls out: The cruel wife of Jove is weary of imposing toils, but Iam not yet weary of performing them!.68 This described very well the situation of the rep-resentatives of the new astronomy in the seventeenth century, who, committed to therenewal of astronomy in the face of adversity, virtuous like Hercules, with the assuranceof everlasting glory after their toil, were ready to labour with no expectation of wealth orrecognition.

    5. Conclusion: newness, power and images

    In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the idea of the new was widely proclaimedin the titles of learned publications. Not only in the treatment of what was really new, likethe New World, or new scientic discoveries, but also in works that only showed slightchanges from previous editions, the adjective new was proudly announced in the title.69

    At the same time, the introduction of new ideas needed to be justied when they did notaccord with conventional images and traditional theories, including those concerned withthe way the heavens and terrestrial objects behaved; in this, as in other matters, it was notdicult to provoke erce criticism from the Church or the secular authorities.

    New opinions and theories should, as a rule, win over adherents primarily through thepersuasive power of their substance and their compelling necessity. In addition to this,however, non-scholarly and non-scientic strategies of legitimisation have played animportant role. In books, the main medium for propagating knowledge in the sixteenthand seventeenth centuries, these strategies of legitimisation found expression mostly inthe paratexts (dedications, forewords), pictures (title-pages, illustrations) and the distinc-tive form of the books (typography, format, specially designed book covers), which

    66 Time, Chronos, was already in the time of Antiquity identied with Kronos, the son of Urania, who devouredhis children and so was rejected by Zeus. About this and Chronos/Kronos iconography see Henkel & Schone(1996), pp. 18131817; Kintzinger (1995), pp. 5965; Klibansky, Panofsky, & Saxl (1964), pp. 153155; Macey(1987), pp. 4066; Panofsky (1962); cf. Samaras (1982).67 On this see Saxl (1963).68 Ovid:Metamorphoses (Ovid, 19561958, Vol. 2, pp. 1617): defessa iubendo est saeva Iovis coniunx: ego sumindefessus agendo! Blaeus epigram need not be restricted only to the eternal movement of the heavens. Thusremarks the Jesuit Claude Francois Menestrier in his Philosophie des images (Menestrier, 16821683, Vol. 1, p. 8):On peut aussi lappliquer a` un homme qui ne cesse dagir ou dans un employ dune grande charge, ou dansletude.69 See Burke (1997); Eamon (1994), pp. 271272; Thorndike (1951); cf. the exposition by Maravall (1986), pp.

    225232.

  • provided the framework for the scholarly main text of a work.70 When it came to visualmeans of legitimisation, frontispieces performed a crucial, and, by denition, a frontal rolein presenting and constructing the relevance of both the author and the text, which couldbe nely tuned to the target readerships.71

    is, as an equal.

    tradition in astronomy, frequently copied in the seventeenth century, of ennobling the sci-

    358 V.R. Remmert / Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 38 (2007) 327362ence through visual symbolism.72 While the Tychonic theory nally gave way to theCopernican theory, Brahes AtlasHercules symbolism had succeeded in making animportant contribution to the legitimisation of the new astronomy throughout the seven-teenth century.

    Acknowledgements

    Research for this paper was kindly supported by fellowships of the Warburg Institute,London, the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbuttel, and the Dibner Institute for theHistory of Science and Technology, Cambridge, MA. An extended German version hasbeen published as Remmert (2003b). I am grateful to the Zeitschrift fur Kunstgeschichtefor the kind permission to publish this abridged English translation.

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    Visual legitimisation of astronomy in the sixteenth and seventeeth centuries: Atlas, Hercules and Tycho " s noseJohannes Bayer ' s use of Atlas and HerculesAtlas and Hercules: the story of an encounterTycho Brahe and the use of imagesBrahe ' s legacy: Atlas and Hercules as representatives of the old and the new astronomyConclusion: newness, power and imagesAcknowledgementsReferences