Great Comet of 1680

Martinastro's couple of lines at the end of his signature about the comet of 1680 just reminded me to tell any of you who like art history to get along to the National Gallery on Clare St., Dublin.

The exhibition currently on display is called Northern Nocturnes and features works on night scene by Alsheimer, Rubens & Rembrandt, brought together in Irl. for the 1st time.

There are a couple of paintings currently on view there which depict the passing of The Great Comet of Dec. 1680 - Jan. 1681.

These are quite unique, as while comets were regarded as forebearers of a catastrophy, naked eye comets were so rare that they rarely featured in night scene paintings.

Also on display is a highly regarded painting depicting the Plough and the Milky Way in the background. It is thought that this may be the 1st to do so.

The exhibition ends on Sunday.

many thanks for that Paul . . . I'd be VERY interested to see that exhibition.

for anyone interested in the topic of art and astronomy, a book I recommend is "Fire in the Sky: Comets and Meteors, the Decisive Centuries, in Art and Science" by Roberta Olsen and Jay Pasachoff. It's a very detailed account of the depiction by artists, Punch magazine cartoons, etc. of these fleeting visitors to our skies. Also, Carl Sagan and Anne Druyan's book "Comet" has many historic depictions of comets. (where did I hear before that if you saw a new Carl Sagan book you knew he had an alimony case to sort out ) Donald Yeoman's book "Comets: In Art, Myth, and Science" is another keeper.

John

Thanks Paul for that. I wish i was near dublin to give it a visit.

Thanks for the book info John, i would sure like to get my hands on Dons book. I do have an old coply of comets by Carl and i think its a beautiful collectors item. I heard the new edition excludes the many stunning images and art work of the original

Cheers

No probs Martin.

Great skynotes; it sounds good.

Paul i like the quote from contact..thats a great film