Many of the most intriguing paintings in
the National Gallery show an understanding
of the universe as reflected in art and
at the core of these is often the image
of the astrologer or the astronomer
surrounded by the instruments of the
science and craft that he's so fascinated by.
There are stars and astronomical symbols
everywhere here in the National Gallery,
but what you may be surprised
to find out is that when you
enter this wonderful great hall they are here.
Not above your heads where you
might expect to see them, but they're on
the floors in the very mosaics and we
trample over them as soon as you get
into the building.
In 1928 Boris Anrep produced his first
mosaic pavement for the National Gallery
'The Labors of Life' and one of the scenes was
'Astronomy', so he depicted an astronomer
peering through his telescope up at a
star-bespangled heavens and behind him
we see an assistant. On the halfway
landing we find Anrep's second mosaic
for the National Gallery. This shows the
awakening of the muses. One of the muses is
Urania who is the muse of astronomy.
She's shown holding a globe
that is full of stars.
I'm here in the National Gallery's
Research Centre, looking at the
'Fasciculus Medicinae' printed in Venice in the 1500s.
This is the Zodiac Man and it's showing
the idea that houses of the zodiac
influence various parts of the body
for example if the moon was in Gemini
representing the arms
it would be a bad time to let
blood on the patient in that
particular area of the body.
We have a continuation of classical and medieval
knowledge and thinking about how
celestial bodies would influence the
human body and events on earth.
On the other hand, in some of the
paintings in the gallery's collection
for example Holbein's 'The Ambassadors',
there the celestial globe and the objects
around those figures are doing
something quite different. They're denoting that
the figures are at the forefront of learning
and by doing that they're indicating their
high status in society.
Holbein in 'The Ambassadors' which he painted
in London in 1533, has presented us with two
full-length more or less life-size
portraits of two French diplomats who
were in London in that year, and then
between them
he has painted shelves of objects and
that top shelf is full of instruments
which reference the heavens in different ways.
Starting on the left hand side we have a
cylinder dial, so this is a portable sundial
that you would have worn around your neck.
Moving along the shelf there is an item
called a quadrant and this was used for
viewing the sun and stars above the
horizon and measuring that particular
angle which was a crucial measurement
for timekeeping and determining calendars.
Then a torquetum, and this is a
calculating device that's used to
convert between different astronomical
coordinate systems.
At the opposite end of the shelf,
right next to Jean de Dinteville himself,
you have a heavenly globe with a
map of the stars.
Celestial globes were
used to aid calculations and
observations of the stars.
The celestial globe in Holbein's 'The Ambassadors'
is depicted with such detail that we can
tell that it was set to the 12th of July
1533 at 2:40pm
though why that is remains a mystery.
Olivier van Deuren's painting of
'A Young Astronomer' is quite a small painting.
It shows a young man in a darkened interior
bent over a celestial globe staring at a
book opened in front of him.
The Netherlands in the 17th century was
one of the leading countries in the
scientific investigation of astronomy.
The young astronomer has lifted the
globe out of its stand and that means
that the fittings can no longer be used
for astronomical calculations.
What he's looking at really are the positions
of the different constellations
There was still very much to be discovered,
new planets, new stars, new galaxies and I think you
get such a sense of impassioned
absorption and fascination in this
painting by Van Deuren,
this young man seeking to understand
what the universe has to offer.
We're less likely now to look at stars
for spiritual guidance, but we're still looking
at them with very great intensity for
thinking about their position for
thinking about their composition and
when we gaze at the stars it's very
clear that we're still asking questions
about what our place is in the universe
and really that's something I can't ever see changing.