How often do astronomical objects appear in art and architecture? That seems to depend on where you are. If you are in a museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, you might see very little. If you are in a market square in San Antonio, Texas, you might find yourself surrounded by it.
Both Market Square and Art Museum have characters to greet you.When my wife and I were in Cincinnati to visit the observatory there (click here and here for posts on that observatory), we decided to visit the Cincinnati Art Museum. The goal of our visit was to find astronomical imagery in art work. Astronomy in art and architecture has always seemed to me to be a great topic for The Catholic Astronomer. It is something that might appeal to a very broad variety of people (click here for posts on the “Astronomy in Art & Architecture” theme). Of course it is something that might especially appeal to people interested in astronomy, and to Catholics (given the emphasis on art and architecture in the Catholic Church).
But the Cincinnati Art Museum turned out to be largely devoid of astronomical imagery. There were some representations of the moon on “tall-case clocks” (“grandfather clocks”)—these were cool, as you will see below. There were also some very generic representations of the sun or moon as part of a few paintings—but even these were pretty rare.
The lack of astronomical imagery in the Cincinnati Art Museum came to mind again when we were in San Antonio. We stopped by the Market Square there (“the largest Mexican Market in the U.S.”, according to various sources). In the market, astronomical imagery was everywhere—representations of the sun, moon, and stars abounded. As you will see below, these were not “realistic” representations; not depictions of astronomical objects as they truly appear to the eye. However, more astronomical imagery could be found on one wall or shelf in the San Antonio market than in the entire Cincinnati Art Museum.
So, let us first look at astronomical imagery in
THE MUSEUM:
A tall-case clock in the Cincinnati Art Museum’s collection. The clock shows the phase of the moon, and how many days have passed in the lunar cycle—very cool. The clock was made by the Philadelphia clockmaker Peter Stretch, and dates to about the year 1740. (All information in this post regarding items from the Cincinnati Art Museum comes from the museum.)
These are some of the works in the Cincinnati Art Museum that have some representation of the sun or moon. From left to right, these are portions of “Moonlit Lake” (by Ralph Albert Blakelock, painted 1890), “Golden Sunset” (George Inness, 1862), and “The Premonition” (Paul Marioni, 1981).
The 19th-century Japanese cup at left, produced by the Setsuzando studio, shows a crescent moon. The 17th-century manuscript page showing Shiva and Parvati meeting in a forest setting has moons and stars scattered everywhere.The pictures above might not necessarily include every bit of astronomical imagery that can be found in the Cincinnati Art Museum, but they include a lot of it. Now, by way of comparison, let us first look at astronomical imagery in
THE MARKET SQUARE:
The San Antonio Market Square is full of art—religious art, colorful art, even cheesy T-shirt art!
Within the Market Square, images of the sun and the moon abound.
In some places, these images fill up an entire wall.
This row of suns was eye-catching.
Stars are not absent from the Market Square, either.
More suns, together with The Crucifixion.These pictures definitely do not include every bit of astronomical imagery that can be found in the San Antonio Market Square—not even close. When it came to astronomical imagery, the Market Square beat the Art Museum easily.
