Antique Star Chart 1708 — Orbits of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn
A celestial map of the three upper planets, Amsterdam 1708
This celestial map shows the orbits of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn around the Earth. The Rijksmuseum titles the sheet a celestial map with a theory of epicycles and describes it: the paths of the three planets drawn around a central Earth, and title cartouches held by putti in the upper left and upper right corners. The Latin title on the plate reads Theoria trium superiorum planetarum, the theory of the three upper planets, and the sheet is numbered 20 in the lower right.
A plate of Harmonia Macrocosmica
The museum records that this print was used in Harmonia Macrocosmica seu Atlas Universalis et Novus, the celestial atlas of Andreas Cellarius, in the edition Pieter Schenk the elder and Gerard Valck published in Amsterdam in 1708. The plate names its makers: I. van Loon fec. for the engraver Johannes van Loon, and Apud Gerardum Valk et Petrum Schenk for the publishers. The record gives the technique as engraving and two dates, 1660 and 1708; we date the card by the edition, 1708.
What was cleaned
In restoration 25 specks of dust and 82 brown spots were taken out of the scan. Nothing was retouched over the printed line and nothing was redrawn. The record does not mention color, and the sheet in the scan is uncolored.
Your file
| Original | engraved by Johannes van Loon, published by Pieter Schenk (I) and Gerard Valck, Amsterdam, 1708 |
| Plate | 435 × 515 mm |
| Scan | full sheet 5870 × 4958 px; the plate inside the trimmed border 4460 × 3745 px. From the museum's own scan, not an upscale |
| Print size at 300 dpi | the map prints to 37 cm (15 in), the full sheet with margins to 49 cm (19 in) |
| You download | six ZIP archives: full sheet, trimmed, 3:2, 4:3, 5:4 and ISO A |
| Inside each one | one JPEG at 300 dpi, the restoration passport as a PDF, a READ ME |
How to print
- Print at 300 dpi at the size above and do not let the shop scale the file up.
- Pick the archive whose proportions match your frame, so nothing is cropped or stretched.
- Ask for matte fine-art paper, printed in sRGB with auto-enhancement off.
- Where to print it: print shops near you and checked prices at online labs.
Source and rights
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, object number RP-P-AO-29-1-22. The museum publishes the image in the public domain. There is no TIFF master in the package. Catalogue record: Rijksmuseum →
Questions
What exactly do I get after paying?
Six ZIP archives, each with one JPEG at 300 dpi, a restoration passport as a PDF and a READ ME. They differ only in framing.
Why 1708 and not 1660?
The museum gives both dates and records that the print was used in the 1708 Schenk and Valck edition of Harmonia Macrocosmica. The card names the edition you are getting.
What is at the center of the chart?
The Earth. The words Terra centrum mundi, the Earth as the center of the world, are engraved there, and the orbits of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are drawn around it.
- Latin
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See also
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Antique Constellation Map 1515 — Dürer, Imagines coeli Meridionales
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Antique Star Chart 1708 — Planisphaerium Arateum
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Chinese Constellation Map 1601–1633 — Fen ye yu tu Manuscript
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Antique Star Chart 1708 — Planisphaerium Braheum
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Antique Constellation Chart 1829 — Reissig, St Petersburg
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Antique Star Chart 1708 — Planisphaerium Ptolemaicum
