Leiden, Universiteitsbibliotheek, VLQ 79, also called the Leiden Aratea, is an
illuminated
Illuminated may refer to:
* "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts
* Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house
* ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album)
* Illuminated manuscript
See also
* Illuminate (disambi ...
copy of an
astronomical
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxi ...
treatise by
Germanicus, based on the ''Phaenomena'' of
Aratus
Aratus (; grc-gre, Ἄρατος ὁ Σολεύς; c. 315 BC/310 BC240) was a Greek didactic poet. His major extant work is his hexameter poem ''Phenomena'' ( grc-gre, Φαινόμενα, ''Phainómena'', "Appearances"; la, Phaenomena), the ...
. The manuscript was created in the region of
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...
and has been dated to around 816. It was produced at the court of
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...
, who ruled from 814–840. It is one of the four
Carolingian codices that were produced in his court.
There are many translations and copies of this text, so it is very well known throughout the Middle East and Europe.
There are 99 extant folios measuring ; four were lost before 1600. Besides these four, the manuscript is complete. The work contains 39
miniatures, including some of the first artistic depictions on paper of the Greek constellations. The artist has made no effort to place the stars correctly according to their positions in the sky so the images cannot be considered true star charts.
History
Provenance
The Leiden Aratea was created for a wealthy patron, possibly
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...
or his wife
Judith. Two copies were made of the manuscript in northern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
around the year 1000.
Jacob Susius acquired the manuscript in Ghent in 1573. It was owned by
Hugo Grotius in 1600 and was used as a source for his edition of ''Syntagma Arateorum''.
[See the associated prints from Grotius' ''Syntagma Arateorum'' on Wikimedia Commons] The name Aratea means that it was a text derived from the lore of an astronomer whose name was
Aratus of Soli.(315-240bc).
Facsimiles
During the Middle Ages, artists were specifically trained to copy each other. This resulted in a large number of exact copies of the same manuscripts.
A high-quality facsimile was published in 1989. That same year the book was rebound by Lucie Gimbrére, a
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
nun of
Oosterhout
Oosterhout (; from ''ooster'', "eastern", and ''hout'', "woods") is a municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands. The municipality had a population of in .
Population centers
The municipality of Oosterhout includes the following pla ...
.
A digital reproduction of this manuscript can be found on ''Digital Special Collections'' (DISC) of
University Library Leiden
Scientific Context
Scholars often view this manuscript as something that can offer an art historical perspective, but doesn't really give much accurate astronomical information regarding constellations, planets, or other natural phenomena at the time. Although the majority of the information in the manuscript is not technically correct, the information can still provide an understanding of the science of astronomy at the time it was created.
There are a few topics that could be areas of interest to astronomers, such as the Leiden Planetary Configuration, which presents a partial heliocentric theory, that Mercury and Venus orbit the Sun.
This theory shows that among ancient astronomers there was a variety of theories being used that did not solely include the geocentric theory.
The manuscript reflects the clarity of the night sky in the Middle Ages, a time without modern air pollution or light pollution. Medieval people generally had a much greater knowledge of the constellations than modern people do today.
Description
Text
The text is written in the ''
capitalis rustica'' script used by the Romans for literary manuscripts and kept by the Carolingians for secular works.
The type of text was very common, and used often during these times.
This text is taken from the Latin translations of Arateaus's poem by Germania.
Each image contains a text description underneath, so the manuscript is mostly considered a picture book. An exception to the use of the capitalis rustica script is folio 93v, the planetarium, where the routes of the planets are inscribed with quotes from Pliny's ''Natural History'' in
Carolingian minuscule
Carolingian minuscule or Caroline minuscule is a script which developed as a calligraphic standard in the medieval European period so that the Latin alphabet of Jerome's Vulgate Bible could be easily recognized by the literate class from one reg ...
.
Miniatures
Constellations, planets and the seasons are depicted in 39 full-page miniatures, all on the verso pages, with corresponding poetical descriptions on the recto. It contains 42 constellations, but at least five miniatures are lost. The lost constellations and miniatures include the Sun and Moon, Jupiter, and the constellations of Centaurus and Virgo.
The illustrations are probably copied from a
Late Antique
Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English has ...
version of Germanicus' treatise; the subjects modeled in a "lively, illusionistic" manner typical of ancient painting.
The missing constellations, Virgo Centaurus with Lupus and Corona Australis can be found in a different tenth-century copy of the Leiden Aratea located in the municipal library of Boulogne-ser-Mer.
After the thirty six images of the constellations, there are two images which represent the five known planets at the time.
Four male heads and one female head that are detached represent these five planets and they are described as "wandering stars" that "follow a different law."
The five planets are Saturn, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars.
On a different page, four female heads represent the four changing seasons.
Folio 93v consists of a full-page planetarium. The planets paths are described along the lines in Carolingian minuscule.
Around the border there are small figures that represent the zodiac signs, which is interesting because this is a copy from a fourth century manuscript called the
Calendar of 354 instead of a copy from the Aratea.
Each picture contains a blue background with a red border, and the image central to the paper.
Illuminations
Image:Aratea 6v.jpg, Hercules
Image:Aratea 10v.jpg, Ophiuchus, Serpens & Scorpius
Image:Aratea 12v.jpg, Boötes
Image:Aratea 22v.jpg, Auriga
Image:Aratea 30v.jpg, Andromeda
Image:Aratea 34v.jpg, Aries
Image:Aratea 93v.jpg, Planetarium
Notes
Sources
*Walther, Ingo F. and Norbert Wolf. ''Codices Illustres: The world's most famous illuminated manuscripts, 400 to 1600''. Cologne, TASCHEN, 2005.
*
*
*
*
Dekker, Elly. “The Provenance of the Stars in the Leiden ‘Aratea’ Picture Book.” ''Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes'', vol. 73, 2010, pp. 1–37.
*Gee, E. (2018). "Astronomical Facts or Poetic Form?" ''Journal for the History of Astronomy'', 49(3), 396–397
*
Weitzmann, Kurt, ed.,
Age of spirituality: late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century', no. 190, 1979,
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, New York, ; full text available online from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
*Dolan, M. (2007). ''The Role of Illustrated Aratea Manuscripts in the Transmission of Astronomical Knowledge in the Middle Ages'', ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.
External links
Leiden Aratea bibliographic description and images.
{{Leiden University
Scientific illuminated manuscripts
Manuscripts of Leiden University Library
Carolingian art
9th-century illuminated manuscripts
Carolingian illuminated manuscripts
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Writers from the Carolingian Empire
9th-century Latin writers