Art and the Cosmos

Sandra Paikowsky

Peter Watson

Topics:

  1. The Dome of Heaven: an introduction to the way astronomers and artists have seen the stars. Almost all human cultures have looked at the night sky and seen the abode of gods and heroes. Architects constructed buildings with domes that symbolized heaven while painters created illusionistic ceilings that brought the celestial inside.
  2. Star ceilings: representations of the night sky in paintings are part art of the imagery of European art. Michelangelo's Sistine chapel originally had a "star ceiling" and during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, constellation ceilings were painted for private and pubic spaces. How do historical star ceilings compare with modern sky maps?
  3. Comets: streaking across the sky, they have fascinated artists, astronomers and illustrators throughout history. Both the Bayeux Tapestry and Giotto's frescoed "Adoration of the Magi" show Halley's comet; reappearances of it and other comets inspired painters throughout the centuries. Contemporary artists including Canada's Paterson Ewen continued the tradition.
  4. Auroras and Eclipses: Turning the night sky into a continuously changing light show, painters reimagined natural phenomena as a magical world of wonders. Balancing art and science, they both illustrated and invented their mysterious colours and visual effects as a subject matter in and for itself. 19th century artists were particularly fascinated by eclipses and auroras inspired Canada's Group of Seven. 

  5. Galaxies: The Milky Way is not just a band of light across the sky, Galileo was the first to see the Milky Way as a vast array of individual stars. However, painters such as Tintoretto and Rubens described its origin in classical mythology. Van Gogh’s swirling star-scapes are the most recognizable modern paintings that make the galaxy their subject matter. Could they have been inspired by the drawings and photographs of the galaxies that were then entering popular culture? How do contemporary artists and astronomers look at galaxies? The real origins of the Milky Way takes us to one of the most profound mysteries of modern cosmology.
  6. Space Travel: the idea that we could travel away from the earth’s surface into the heavens must be almost as old as humanity, but until very recently we have never been able to do so. Artists and illustrators have filled in the gaps in our imagination, beginning with medieval illuminated Bibles to abstract images of the idea of other-worldly places to sleek, high-key colour illustrations that merge fact and fantasy. It is amusing to see how close this is to reality.
Some Sources: