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The Compromise Solar System
Brahe Solar System.
CELLARIUS, A. [Amsterdam, 1660]
Scenographia Compagis Mundanae Brahea.
17 x 20 inches.
Fine hand color heightened with gold; excellent.
A beautiful, three-dimensional depiction of the Brahe solar system, in which the earth is surrounded by planetary orbits and the zodiacal band. In Brahe’s system, which was a compromise between the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems, the planets Mercury and Venus revolve around the sun, but this group in turn orbits the earth along with the other planets. Thus, the earth-centeredness of the universe as ordained by the Church can be maintained while bowing somewhat to science. There is a strong emphasis in the map’s decorative elements on the tools and texts of astronomical inquiry.
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