Portrait of an Astronomer,  Flemish painter, second quarter of 17th century, National Museum in Warsaw.

 The portrait, traditionally believed to depict Tycho Brahe, has nothing in common with the well-known real likenesses of the Danish astronomer.

Portrait of an Astronomer,  German painter 1660, National Museum in Poznań

The portrait depicts a German astronomer thus far unidentified, aged 47, in his study. The man is accompanied by the attributes indicating his profession: in his right hand he holds an astronomical compass and his left rests on the celestial globe standing on the table on which can also be seen a thick volume and an open pocket watch and chain.

A Portrait Study of an Astronomer, Johann Christian Lauch, second half of 17th century. The Princes Czartoryski Foundation at the National Museum in Cracow.

The picture is traditionally interpreted as a portrait of an astronomer. Austrian painter, from 1687 he was the Inspector General of the imperial galleries in Vienna.

The Invention of a Compass (“Polar Stone”) Gdańsk painter (?) Early 17th century National Museum in Warsaw.

The picture was painted after a copper engraving by Theodoor Galle, designed by Jan van der Straet (1523–1605), known as Stradanus, and entitled “Lapis Solaris” (“Polar Stone”). A draft drawing by Stradanus, dating from ca. 1590–1595, is kept at the Cooper Union Museum in New York. The painting differs from the engraving in only a few details. The caption to the Stradanus engraving, Lapis reclusit iste Flauio abditum/ Poli fuum hunc amorem, at ipse nauitae. (This stone revealed to Flavio its secret love for the pole, but revealed it to him as a sailor.), indicates that the man shown in the engraving is Flavio Gioia of Amalfi, a legendary, in all likelihood fictitious, Italian merchant and traveller whom Stradanus, in accordance with tradition, evidently regarded as the inventor of a magnetic compass (he would have invented it in 1302). Thus the present scene would concern the moment of inventing a compass and thereby the actual origin of marine navigation.

An Astrologer Observing the Autumnal Equinox and Venus Taking Leave of Adonis Dominicus van Wijnen, named Ascanius (Amsterdam 1661 – Amsterdam ?), ok. 1690–1700, National Museum in Warsaw, deposited at the Museum-Palace at Wilanów.

The Wilanów painting embodies in human forms the astronomical or astrological idea of the autumnal aequinoctium marked by zodiacal Libra (exhibited in the astronomer’s book). The moment when Adonis is parting with Venus corresponds to the autumnal equinox and the moment of their reunion to the spring equinox. The man in a flowing robe and a turban on his head, leaning over the books, would represent an ancient astronomer or astrologer. Ascanius was taught in The Hague by the historical painter Willer Doudyns. In the years 1680–1690 he worked in Rome, where he joined the Schildersbent association of Netherlandish and German artists, under his Latin nickname Ascanius (Ascaan) coined from the name of the son of the mythical Aeneas.

Nicholas Copernicus, Jan Krystian Gładysz, (Babimost 1762 – Warszawa 1830), 1810, Kórnik Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences, The picture was commissioned by Fryderyk Roze in 1810. In 1826 it was sold to Tytus Działyński. Taken by the Germans to Poznań, it remained there from 1942 to 1945. After the war it returned to the Kórnik Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Copernicus is depicted with some attributes defining his subject of interests and referring to his research work: a drawing of the heliocentric system and telescopic telescope (which was unknown during the time of his life), celestial globe with a tablet propped against it, a sundial and a vast landscape with the first light of dawn on the horizon. The painter did not portray the astronomer in a traditional study. Jan Krystian Gładysz  was blacksmith by trade, thanks to his powerful patrons’ help he completed his artistic education in Poznań and later additionally studied in Dresden and Paris. He painted historical and genre scenes as well as portraits which constitute the largest part of his artistic oeuvre.

Nicholas Copernicus, Jan Matejko (Kraków 1838 – Kraków 1893) signed: Kraków d. 1/3 187(1)r. p. JM, 1871, National Museum in Cracow.

Copernicus is depicted on the roof of Frombork Cathedral, where he conducted his night observations of the sky and the stars. From the roof streches the view over the buildings of Frombork and Vistula Lagoon. This is the first oil sketch for Matejko’s painting The Astronomer Nicholas Copernicus, or Conversation with God of 1873. The sketch differs from the painting in some details. From 1491 to 1495 Copernicus studied at the Jagiellonian University and then went to Italy; in Ferrara he obtained a PhD degree in canon law. Jan Matejko - painter and teacher, the most outstanding exponent of Polish historical painting, professor at the Cracow School of Fine Arts, its reformer and director.

Celestial globe with an astrolabe, Attributed to Hans Dorn, Hungary, 1480, Jagiellonian University Museum, The globe, as well as an astrolabe and torquetum, was the property of Marcin Bylica of Olkusz. Bequeathed by him (1492) to Cracow University, the instruments were brought from Buda to Cracow in 1494.

The celestial globe is movable relative to the horizontal plate, which permits observations at different latitudes. The southern corner contains a horizontal sundial with a compass. In the northern corner is an escutcheon with Marcin Bylica`s  mark of ownership. That the globe was used in astrology is evidenced by the repeated symbols of the planets. The stars marked are those of a magnitude between 1 and 6.

Hans Dorn - a Viennese Dominican monk and a scientific-instrument maker. From 1476 at the latest till 1490 Dorn stayed at the court in Buda, in the service of King Matthias Corvinus, where he met Marcin Bylica.

Marcin Bylica - son of an Olkusz burgher, from 1451 to 1459 he studied at Cracow University as a pupil of Andrzej Grzymała of Poznań. In the years 1463/1464 Bylica lectured on astronomy at the Universities of Padua and Bologna. In 1466 he went to Hungary where he took a chair of astronomy in the newly-established Academia Istropolitana in Pressburg (today Bratislava). After the closure of the Academy in 1472, Bylica became an astrologer at the court of King Matthias Corvinus in Buda.

Gunner`s  level and sight,  Bénneke, Berlin, 18th century, Jagiellonian University Museum.

A gunnery instrument used in field artillery for sighting and adjusting the sight axis of a gun. The set consists of two elements: a sight and a quadrant. The instrument was positioned on the sight of a gun and plumbed by means of a massive pointer. The quadrant was put to the bottom of the barrel and sometimes fixed on a wooden rod. It served to determine and set the angle of tilt of a gun for obtaining the desired angle of departure of a missile. The employment of instruments and calculations enabling the precise orientation of artillery guns dates back to the 16th century.

Proportional compass, Jeremias Kögeler, Gdańsk, 1664, Jagiellonian University Museum, the property of Kacper Ciechanowski, professor at Cracow University, after his death it devolved to Collegium Maius ca. 1698

A universal instrument for mathematical calculations, mechanical conversion of proportions, and comparison of areas. The compass is stored in a wooden case inscribed Post fata clariss D Casparis Ciekanowski Coll. Minor oblatum Biblioth. Coll. Mai.The instrument is patterned on a pair of compasses designed between 1595 and 1599 by Galileo (1564–1642) and described by him in Le Opperazioni del compasso geometrico e militare (Padova 1597).

Jeremias Kögeler alias Kögler (Kegeler, Kogler) was the maker of mathematical and physical instruments in Gdańsk from 1634 to 1688.

Napier`s bones, England, 17th century, Jagiellonian University Museum

The instrument, made from a design by John Napier (1550–1617), was used for multiplication, division, raising to the power and extraction of square and cube roots. These operations are replaced here by the intermediate operations of adding numbers. The set consists of eleven rods.

Astronomical instrument, ca. 1780, Jagiellonian University Museum, belonged the Astronomical Observatory of the Jagiellonian University.

This astronomical instrument, used for determining the position of a point in horizontal and vertical planes.

Simple theodolite, J. C. Ludewig, Dresden, ca. 1720, Jagiellonian University Museum

 This is a surveying instrument for topographical investigations concerning the measurement of angles. Unlike altazimuth theodolites, a simple theodolite has no vertical limb. A simple theodolite originates from the reverse (dorsum) of an astrolabe with the preserved graduated scale and alidade.

Diptych sundial, Hans Droschel (Troschel) (1549–1612), Nuremberg, 1584, Jagiellonian University Museum, the property of Prof. Jan Brożek (1585-1652). Hans Droschel , Norymberga, 1584, sygned: Hans Droschel – Noremberg MDLXXXIIII

The combination of a sundial with a compass in the late 13th century permitted the development of portable sundials. The compass enabled the instrument to be oriented precisely along the local meridian. The gnomon parallel to the axis of the Earth was applied for the first time after 1400. From the Late Gothic to the Baroque diptych dials were the most popular kind of sundials. On the outside of the plate is a lunar dial helpful in determining hours at night.

Hans Troschel vel Droschel (1549–1612) one of the best instrument makers of his day. He had a workshop in Nuremberg; between 1580 and 1612 he made a large number of diptych sundials of ivory.

Horizontal sundial, Michael Butterfield, Paris, ca. 1700, Jagiellonian University Museum signed: Butterfield AParis

Paris-type sundials, usually of brass or silver, had a characteristic oval or octagonal base plate. They are considered to have been executed by Michael Butterfield (ca. 1635–1724) of English descent, from 1685 resident in Paris, a well-known master scientific-instrument maker. His works set the pattern for numerous 18th century makers, among them E. Baradelle and P. Le Maire.

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