Moon: Tycho and Maurolycus

Made:
1851 in Kent
maker:
James Hall Nasmyth

Moon / James Nasmyth, 1851. - 1. Southwest of Tycho, including Maurolycus. painting; distemper on canvas; 210x137cm.

James Nasmyth started observing the moon in the 1840s, while running a revolutionary engineering business in Manchester. He tried to use the most up-to-date lunar map published by German astronomers but found the two-dimensional line drawing did not equate easily with the three-dimensional surface he observed. He therefore produced a series of sketches and paintings, from hundreds of observations, focusing on the light and shadow created by the moon’s pitted surface.

Details

Category:
Art
Object Number:
1956-153/1
Measurements:
overall: 2100 x 1370 mm
type:
painting
credit:
University of Oxford Observatory