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Volker Remmert,
Institut für Mathematik, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz:
Visual legitimisation of astronomy in the 16th and
17th centuries:
Atlas, Hercules and Tycho's Nose
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 knowledge, 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 16th and 17th 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. To argue by visual
means was part of the order of the day, whether in
Rome, Paris or Copenhagen. Tycho Brahe played an
important part in applying strategies of visual
legitimisation to the science of astronomy, for he had
a comprehensive understanding of the tradition and
importance of the artistic legitimisation and
glorification of power.
tirsdag, den 5. februar, kl. 17.00
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