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| The Astronomer is a painting finished about 1668 by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. It is oil on canvas, 51 cm x 45 cm (20 x 18 in), and is on display at the Louvre, Paris. Portrayals of scientists were a favourite topic in 17th century Dutch painting and Vermeer's oeuvre includes both this astronomer and the slightly later The Geographer. Both are believed to portray the same man, possibly Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. The astronomer's profession is shown by the celestial globe (version by Jodocus Hondius) and the book on the table, Metius's Institutiones Astronomicae Geographicae). Symbolically, the volume is open to Book III, a section advising the astronomer to seek "inspiration from God" and the painting on the wall shows the finding of Moses—Moses may represent knowledge and science ("learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians"). | |
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| Views: 154 | Dimensions: 295x338px/18.5Kb Date: 2012-12-01
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| Added by: knuartlib
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