Gaius Iulius Hyginus

(Caspar Vopel)

C. Ivlii Higini, Avgvsti Liberti, Poeticon Astronomicon : Ad Vetervm exemplarium eorumq[ue] manuscriptorum fidem diligentissime recognitum, & ab innumeris, quibus scatebat, uitiis repurgatum, Coloniae 1534

Gaius Iulius Hyginus

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00005.html

Caspar Vopel è l’autore delle illustrazioni delle costellazioni che corredano l’edizione del Poeticon Astronomicon pubblicata a Colonia nel 1534 da Johannes Soter. Lo stile utilizzato da Vopel ha per riferimento le costellazioni delle mappe del Dürer del 1515 e per descriverle ricorro ai seguenti articoli di Elly Dekker e di Astronomie in Nürnberg.

ELLY DEKKER

Caspar Vopel's Ventures in Sixteenth-Century Celestial Cartography

Les essais de Caspar Vopel en cartographie céleste au XVIe siècle

Caspar Vopels Vorstoß in die Kartographie des Himmels im 16. Jahrhundert

Las empresas de Caspar Vopel en la cartografía celeste del siglo XVI

http://www.atlascoelestis.com/Vopel%202010%20base.htm

Per cortesia di

Imago Mundi

Volume 62, Issue 2, 2010

1534: A Cycle of Constellation Images

Vopel's next undertaking in celestial cartography was the series of forty woodcut constellation images made for the 1534 edition of the Poeticon Astronomicon, published by the Cologne humanist and printer Johannes Soter. (22)

This astronomical treatise on the rudiments of astronomy is attributed to the librarian of the Roman emperor Augustus, C. Iulius Hyginus (first century bc). Vopel's involvement in Soter's edition is expressed in an address to the reader printed at the end of the book. He also included a reference to his woodcut illustrations of Hyginus's Poeticon Astronomicon in a legend on his world map. (23)

Cycles of individual constellation images are seen in many medieval manuscripts, where they illustrate so-called descriptive star catalogues, that is, written lists of the locations of stars within constellation images. The oldest extant copies of such lists date from the beginning of the ninth century. Some descriptive star catalogues are part of the scholia of Latin translations of the Phaenomena, the earliest surviving Greek description of the celestial sky by Aratus of Soli (c. 310–240/239 bc); others occur in treatises of the ‘computus’. (24)

Book III of Hyginus's Poeticon Astronomicon contains such a descriptive star catalogue.

The most common cycle of constellation images printed in the Renaissance is the one illustrating the editio princeps of the Latin translation of Aratus's poem by Germanus Iulius Caesar (15 bc–19 ad). This was published in Bologna in 1474. The images stem from a medieval tradition connected with Michael Scot (fl. c.1235), court astrologer to Emperor Frederick II. (25)

The woodcuts of the Scot illustrations were also used in the 1482 and 1485 editions of Hyginus's Poeticon Astronomicon, published by Erhard Ratdolt in Venice , and in many other astronomical works printed during the Renaissance. (26)

In contrast, the Cologne edition printed by Soter in 1534 did not follow this trend but used instead Caspar Vopel's newly designed woodcut images.

The images of Andromeda in the editions by Ratdolt and Soter of respectively 1482 and 1534 are shown in Figure 2 The 1482 image depicts Andromeda as a male/female with outstretched arms tied to the branches of trees. (27)

The stars plotted in the constellation are in keeping with Hyginus's descriptive star catalogue. Vopel's image on the other hand follows Dürer's design of a naked woman in chains. He placed the constellation in relation to sections of a number of celestial circles: great circles through the ecliptic poles separating the signs of the zodiac, the Tropic of Cancer and the equinoctial colure. In the absence of declination scales it is not possible to decide what sort of projection Vopel used, but it certainly was not stereographic. The great circles through the ecliptic poles in the woodcuts in Soter's Poeticon Astronomicon seem to represent the boundaries of globe gores and clearly anticipate Vopel's printed globe. It is, therefore, not surprising that the stars in Vopel's figure of Andromeda do not follow Hyginus's descriptive star catalogue, but are based on Ptolemy's positions and magnitudes of the stars and are numbered according to their order in his star catalogue. (28)

View larger version(183K)

Fig. 2. Andromeda from two editions of Hyginus, Poeticon Astronomicon. Left, the edition by Erhard Ratdolt, printed in Venice in 1482, with woodcut illustrations based on a medieval manuscript tradition connected with Michael Scot (fl. c.1235), court astrologer to Emperor Frederick II. Right, Johannes Soter's edition, printed in Cologne in 1534, with woodcut illustrations by Caspar Vopel. (Reproduced with permission from the History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries , Norman , and from the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München, respectively.)

The principles underlying Vopel's woodcut of Andromeda hold for the other constellations. A few, however, diverge from the general pattern. For example, the iconography of Boötes deviates from Dürer's design in that Boötes now holds a sickle in his raised left hand, a detail that Vopel borrowed from the Scot illustration, where Boötes is portrayed as a farmer (Fig. 3).

View larger version(182K)

Fig. 3. Boötes from two editions of Hyginus, Poeticon Astronomicon. Woodcuts. Left, the Radolt edition of 1482, portraying Boötes as a farmer. Right, the Soter edition of 1534, where Boötes holds a sickle in his raised left hand, a detail borrowed from the illustration in the Radolt edition. (Reproduced with permission from the History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries , Norman , and the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München, respectively.)

In some constellations unformed stars or stars belonging to a neighbouring constellation are found. For example, the image of Corona Borealis contains some stars from Serpens (Ser 1–3, 5–6), and included in the outline of Taurus are two non-Ptolemaic stars (numbered 34 and 35 and placed after the Ptolemaic Pleiades stars 30–33) and the Greek names of the Pleiades and the Hyades (Fig. 4). Hyginus discussed the Pleiades in a separate entry in Book II.21, declaring that only six of its seven stars were discernable. This could explain why Vopel increased the four Ptolemaic Pleiades stars to six. The one star name shown in Vopel's drawings, CANOPVS in Navis, is also discussed by Hyginus, although not in his entries on Navis (Books II.37 and III.36) but in the entry on Eridanus (Book II.32). All this suggests that the images were taken from something much larger, such as a set of globe gores. The rough scale (in units of 10°) for longitudes that accompanies the drawings of the zodiacal constellations is consistent with this thesis.

View larger version(153K)

Fig. 4. Taurus from Soter's 1534 edition of Hyginus, Poeticon Astronomicon, with the Greek names of the Pleiades (numbers 30–33) and the Hyades. Woodcut. Among the Pleiades are two non-Ptolemaic stars (numbers 34 and 35). (Reproduced with permission from the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München.)

Since the Ptolemaic stellar configurations of Vopel's constellation cycle are not in line with Hyginus's descriptive star catalogue, the series must have confused readers trying to connect the text with the images. This did not, however, prevent the reproduction of either the whole cycle or part of it in a number of astronomical works printed later in the sixteenth century. (29)

https://www.astronomie-nuernberg.de/index.php?category=duerer&page=hyginus-1534

https://www.astronomie-nuernberg.de/index.php?category=duerer&page=nachfolger

https://www.astronomie-nuernberg.de/index.php?category=duerer&page=sternkarten

Per cortesia di

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00005.html

Le tavole delle costellazioni

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00005.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00046.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00047.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00048.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00049.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00050.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00051.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00052.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00053.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00054.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00055.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00056.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00057.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00058.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00059.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00060.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00061.html?zoom=0.5

Nell’elenco delle costellazioni di Igino, come anche in Eratostene, non si fa cenno ad una delle 48 costellazioni tolemaiche, il Cavallino che pertanto non viene rappresentato

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00062.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00063.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00064.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00065.html?zoom=0.5

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00066.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00067.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00068.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00069.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00070.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00071.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00072.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00073.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00074.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00075.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00076.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00077.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00078.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00079.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00080.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00081.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00082.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00083.html

Le tavole dei pianeti

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00095.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00096.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00097.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00098.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00099.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00100.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00101.html

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10934130_00102.html

(Nota di Atlascoelestis):

Si pensa che gli stessi stampi in legno di Vopel siano atati utilizzati nell'officina tipografica di Theodorus Graminaeus per stampare le xilografie delle costellazioni utilizzate per l'edizione del 1569 e 1570 (vedi: https://www.astronomie-nuernberg.de/index.php?category=duerer&page=graminaeus-1569) , di

Arati Solensis

PHAENOMENA ET PROGNOSTICA. Interpretibus M. Tullio Cicerone, Rufo Festo Avieno, Germanico Caesare, Una cum Eius Commentariis. C. Iulii Hygini Astronomicon...

Coloniae Agrippinae ( Cologne ) : apud Theodorum Graminaeum, 1569 (1570)

http://www.atlascoelestis.com/Aratus%20Solensis.htm

L'opera può essere consultata

nella seguente pagina

per cortesia di

http://bdh-rd.bne.es/viewer.vm?id=0000000204

e per cortesia di

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/resolve/display/bsb10139476.html

Le stesse tavole sono inserite anche in una riedizione del 1739:

https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10195820_00001.html

Di Hyginus leggi anche:

Hyginus

Poeticon Astronomicon

Arhard Ratdolt, Venezia 1485

http://www.atlascoelestis.com/Arh%20Pagina.htm

C. IULII

HYGINI

AUGUSTI LIBERTI

Poeticon Astronomicon, Basileae 1570

http://www.atlascoelestis.com/hi%20poeticon.htm

Libellus de stellis fixis et erraticis…in fine brevis additus est tractatus de stellis crinitis sive cometis, et stellis cadentibus. Magdeburgum 1587

http://www.atlascoelestis.com/decim%20Pagina.htm

Arnaud Zucker

(Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, CEPAM, France)

Exploring the Relevance of the Star-positions in the Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts of Hyginus' De Astronomia, Venezia 2016-2017

http://www.atlascoelestis.com/Zuc%202016.htm

Exploring_the_Relevance_of_the_Star-posi.pdf

Bibliografia

Hyginus, Poeticon Astronomicon, Arhard Ratdolt, Venezia 1482

J. C. Schaubach, Eratosthenis Catasterismi cum interpretazione Latina et commento, Gottingen 1795

A . Rehm, Eratosthenis Catasterismorum Fragmenta Vaticana, Ansbach 1899 http://bvbm1.bib-bvb.de/view/action/singleViewer.do?dvs=1329042423074~125&locale=it&VIEWER_URL=/view/action/singleViewer.do?&DELIVERY_RULE_ID=35&frameId=1&usePid1=true&usePid2=true

J. Martin, Histoire du texte des Phènomènes d’Aratos, Parigi 1956 A .

Le Boeuffle, Astronomie, Les Belles Lettres, Paris 1983

Patrizio Domenicucci, Astra Caesarum, Astronomia, astrologia e catasterismo da Cesare a Domiziano, Edizioni ETS, Pisa, 1996

Theony Condos, Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: A Sourcebook containing ‘The Constellations’ of Pseudo Eratosthenes and the ‘Poetic Astronomy’ of Hyginus, Phanes Press, Grand Rapids, 1997

Pascal Charvet, A. Zucker, J. P. Brunet, R. Nadal, Le Ciel, Mythes et histoire des constellations NiL editions, Paris, 1998

J. Pamias Massana, Eratostenes de Cirene, Catasterismes, Barcelona 2004

J. Pamias, K. Geus, Sternsagen, Utopica, Oberhaid, 2007

Arnaud Zucker, La function de l’image dans l’astronomie grecque in Eratosthène. Un atlète du savoir, Publications de l’Université deSaint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, 2008

Anna Santoni, Eratostene, Epitome dei Catasterismi, Edizioni ETS, Pisa, 2009

G. Chiarini, G. Guidorizzi, Igino Mitologia Astrale, Adelphi, Milano 2009

Elly Dekker, Illustrating the PHAENOMENA, Celestial Cartography in Antiquity an the Middle Ages, Oxford University Press, Oxfor 2013

Anna Santoni, Antiche stelle a Bisanzio, il codice Vaticano greco 1087, Edizioni della Normale, Pisa 2013

J. Pamias I Massana, Arnaud Zucker, Eratosthène de Cyrène, Catastérisme, Les Belles Lettres, Paris, 2013

A. Camerotto, Hybris, i limiti dell'uomo tra acque, cieli e terre, Mimesis edizioni 2014

A. Zucker, Exploring the Relevance of the Star-positions in the Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts of Hyginus' De Astronomia, Venezia 2016-2017 in Certissima Signa, A Venice Conference on Greek and Latin Astronomical Texts, Edizioni Ca’ Foscari-Venezia-settembre 2017

LEGGI DI

Arnaud ZUCKER

(U.N.S., Cepam UMR 6130)

Variabilité des images de constellations et fonction des images dans l’astronomie grecque : Eratosthène, Hipparque, Ptolémée

Exploring the Relevance of the Star-positions in the Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts of Hyginus' De Astronomia, Venezia 2016-2017 in Certissima Signa, A Venice Conference on Greek and Latin Astronomical Texts, Edizioni Ca’ Foscari-Venezia-settembre 2017

http://www.atlascoelestis.com/Zuc%202016.htm

CONFRONTA CON

Codice NLW 735C

f. 10v