ticketsMember | Make a donation

Lunar Map, in Selenography, or the Description of the Moon (Selenographia: sive Lunae descriptio)

1647
Not on view
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.
The first book entirely dedicated to the moon, Selenography contains the Polish astronomer Hevelius’s engravings describing all forty phases, as well as three lunar maps. Framing the composite map shown here are clusters of cherubs holding banners, peering through telescopes, and making drawings. These Baroque symbols of divine agency present the cosmos as the heavenly domain of the gods, reflecting a worldview that mingled art, science, and religion.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Lunar Map, in Selenography, or the Description of the Moon (Selenographia: sive Lunae descriptio)
  • Artist: Johannes Hevelius (Polish, Gdańsk 1611–1687 Gdańsk)
  • Publisher: Andreas Hënefeld
  • Date: 1647
  • Medium: Engraving
  • Dimensions: 13 × 8 7/8 in. (33 × 22.5 cm)
  • Classification: (not assigned)
  • Credit Line: Collection of Bethany and Robert B. Millard
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs
Johannes Hevelius - Lunar Map, in Selenography, or the Description of the Moon (Selenographia: sive Lunae descriptio) - The Metropolitan Museum of Art