De Sphaera

De Sphaera

One of the most beautiful astronomical books of the Renaissance came into being around 1470 in Upper Italy at the court of the Visconti. With his masterwork De Sphaera, the illuminator Cristoforo de Predis composed a lore of the stars and planets, which represented the most modern state of science at that time. The scientific insights are accompanied by 15 magnificent miniatures, which display the astronomical charts in which the planets are documented, illustrating the relationship between heaven and Earth as well as scenes connecting everyday life with the recurring movements of the heavens.

The Sforza, Patrons of Art and Science

One of the most influential authors of the Renaissance was employed at the court of the Sforza, or the preceding Visconti, respectively. World-renowned works were commissioned by the family, De Sphaera included. The painter Cristoforo de Predis, who was deaf from birth, patterned his codex on the foundation laid by previous astronomical discoveries, which were clarified using mathematical laws, but has not completely done away with the influence of poetry and enchantment through the use of myths and legends, together with the influence of the divine and superstitious. Many of the princes of Milan regularly had their horoscopes read, which was ordained by the astrological culture in the humanist Upper Italy of the Renaissance. The numerous templates were ably bound by de Predis into one of the most masterful scientific documents of the time.

Heavenly Paintings

Cristoforo de Predis was an illuminator of exceptional ability, he imparted a sensibility to his draws, the subtlety of which was probably enhanced by his congenital disorder. The 15 full page miniatures in De Sphaera show the planets Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, the Sun, and the Moon, which encircle the Earth in accordance with the perception of the time. He explains using the most modern science of the time the phases of the Moon and the climatic coordinates, and combined these insights with traditional beliefs that ascribed the destiny of mankind to the influence of the stars. In a vivid range of colors and a surprising attention to detail, he draws the enchanting landscapes, cities, and living spaces that are presented in a markedly realistic fashion and take the beholder back to long forgone times.

The most Beautiful Illustrations of the Renaissance

With his work, de Predis created a masterwork of book art and delivered an important precursor to the astronomical insights of our time. He ordered the different areas of everyday life to the movements of the planets overhead and delivered an artful precursor to our modern celestial maps. A particularity, that was common to the astronomy at the time, is the personification of the planets. These were attributed either good or bad properties, which recurred with the respective sign of the Zodiac. The work is a fantastic contemporary witness and an important document of the culture.