Others See it Yet Otherwise: The Cosmic Systems

michaeljohn Allegory, Astronomy, Mathematics 2 Comments

At the front of the green octagonal table in the Linder Gallery, very prominently positioned in the painting, is a scrap of paper bearing three competing systems of the universe: the Ptolemaic earth-centred system at the top left, the sun-centred Copernican system (prohibited by the Inquisition since 1616) and the compromise system of the Danish astronomer, Kepler’s mentor Tycho Brahe, …

The Caravaggio Letter: Eyewitness account of the Linder Gallery?

michaeljohn Artist, Astronomy, Mathematics, Provenance Leave a Comment

There is an intriguing letter in the university library of Urbino recently uncovered by Alexander Marr that provides a direct eyewitness account of the Linder Gallery from shortly after its creation. It was sent in March 1629 by an engineer, Giovanni Battista Caravaggio to his mathematical  tutor, Mutio Oddi, describing a visit to the house of the German merchant Peter …

Muzio Oddi and the Linder Gallery

Alex Astronomy, Mathematics Leave a Comment

The sole surviving piece of textual evidence that sheds light on the Linder gallery interior is a letter, sent on 28 March 1629, from the architect-engineer Giovanni Battista Caravaggio to his former tutor in mathematics, Mutio Oddi of Urbino.  In the letter, Caravaggio (then in Milan) mentions a visit to their friend Pieter Linder, a German merchant who had also …