DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52695#0044
38
the results of his own observations 33. Since the end of the twelfth
century curiosity in the achievement of Arab astronomers spreads
throughout Christian Europe. The illustrated star catalogues of
as-Sufi reached Europe through the cosmopolitan courts of Sicily
and Spain. A Latin translation of this catalogue, made in 1188 at
Palermo for William II (fll89) and beautifully illustrated with
miniatures, is still preserved in Paris in the Bibliotheque de 1’Arsenal
(Ms. 1036) 34. The constellations in both the Arabic and the Latin
versions of the illustrated manuscript star catalogue of as-Sufi differ
greatly from the traditional Greek representations, a circumstance
that I have stressed here with regard to the globe of Bylica. The
most famous classical celestial globe preserved till our times is the
Farnese globe (Fig. 5) now at Naples, which is a Roman copy made
in the Augustan period from a Greek original33. Its surface shows
the figures of forty eight constellations carved in relief. Most figures
are shown from the rear, but the stars are not marked. The same
can be observed in the case of most Carolingian and Romanesque
illustrated copies of the Aratea and of the Scholia by Germanicus to
the poem about stars of Aratos of which the most beautiful specimen
is the manuscript No 3307 now preserved in Madrid 56. On the other
hand, in the manuscript copies of the star catalogue of as-Sufi and
in their illustrated Latin translations (e. g. Ms. No. 1036 at the
Bibliotheque de l’Ars6nal) the stars are marked and differentiated
with regard to their magnitude and brightness, which demonstrates
the scientific intentions of as-Sufi himself and of the Sicilian artist
who illustrated his works.
The Vienna maps (Figs. 38 and 39) also show the positions of
stars which are, moreover, marked by the numbers corresponding to
their place in Ptolemy’s catalogue. What are the similarities and
differences between the manner of representing constellations on
the globe of Bylica and on the Vienna maps? The maps, drawn about
one generation earlier than the globe, had been copied accurately
from an Italian map designed probably as early as about 1430,
whereas the engravings on the globe were an independent transposition
of a similar archetype into the northern Gothic style. However,
38 Schjellerup, op. cit., pp. 4—5.
54 Saxl, Verzeichnis, B. Ill, I. Die Handschriften in englischen Bibliotheken,
p. XXXII, Note 41 and Fig. 17.
35 A. Thiele, Antike Hintmelsbilder, Berlin 1898, Chapter II.
88 Neuss, op. cit., passim.
the results of his own observations 33. Since the end of the twelfth
century curiosity in the achievement of Arab astronomers spreads
throughout Christian Europe. The illustrated star catalogues of
as-Sufi reached Europe through the cosmopolitan courts of Sicily
and Spain. A Latin translation of this catalogue, made in 1188 at
Palermo for William II (fll89) and beautifully illustrated with
miniatures, is still preserved in Paris in the Bibliotheque de 1’Arsenal
(Ms. 1036) 34. The constellations in both the Arabic and the Latin
versions of the illustrated manuscript star catalogue of as-Sufi differ
greatly from the traditional Greek representations, a circumstance
that I have stressed here with regard to the globe of Bylica. The
most famous classical celestial globe preserved till our times is the
Farnese globe (Fig. 5) now at Naples, which is a Roman copy made
in the Augustan period from a Greek original33. Its surface shows
the figures of forty eight constellations carved in relief. Most figures
are shown from the rear, but the stars are not marked. The same
can be observed in the case of most Carolingian and Romanesque
illustrated copies of the Aratea and of the Scholia by Germanicus to
the poem about stars of Aratos of which the most beautiful specimen
is the manuscript No 3307 now preserved in Madrid 56. On the other
hand, in the manuscript copies of the star catalogue of as-Sufi and
in their illustrated Latin translations (e. g. Ms. No. 1036 at the
Bibliotheque de l’Ars6nal) the stars are marked and differentiated
with regard to their magnitude and brightness, which demonstrates
the scientific intentions of as-Sufi himself and of the Sicilian artist
who illustrated his works.
The Vienna maps (Figs. 38 and 39) also show the positions of
stars which are, moreover, marked by the numbers corresponding to
their place in Ptolemy’s catalogue. What are the similarities and
differences between the manner of representing constellations on
the globe of Bylica and on the Vienna maps? The maps, drawn about
one generation earlier than the globe, had been copied accurately
from an Italian map designed probably as early as about 1430,
whereas the engravings on the globe were an independent transposition
of a similar archetype into the northern Gothic style. However,
38 Schjellerup, op. cit., pp. 4—5.
54 Saxl, Verzeichnis, B. Ill, I. Die Handschriften in englischen Bibliotheken,
p. XXXII, Note 41 and Fig. 17.
35 A. Thiele, Antike Hintmelsbilder, Berlin 1898, Chapter II.
88 Neuss, op. cit., passim.