The Astronomer's Desk

About this work

This is a picture of instruments at rest. The large armillary sphere behind is the tallest form, its bronze rings crossing each other in open curves, and the smaller sphere on the left repeats it at a lower pitch. Between them the celestial globe sits round and dense, its dark blue surface criss-crossed with gold lines and stars. The candle on the right is the only real source of light, and its soft glow spreads into the dark blue background, warming the edges of the bronze. In the foreground the open book lies flat on the navy cloth, its pages the palest area of the picture, leading the eye in from the bottom. Close up, the overlapping rings make a fine web of lines; from across the room the scene becomes a quiet harmony of blues lit by one small flame.

An armillary sphere is a model of the heavens made of rings: circles for the equator, the tropics and the ecliptic, the path the sun appears to follow, set around a centre that stands for the Earth. Instruments of this kind were used in antiquity, and later by astronomers in the Islamic world and in Renaissance Europe, for teaching as well as observation. A celestial globe does a different job. It maps the constellations on a solid ball, but because we look at it from outside rather than from the centre, the star patterns appear mirror-reversed compared with the real sky. Seen together, the two objects show two ways of picturing the same night.

In a study, hang it near The Midnight Reading Room to build a nocturnal theme of books and lamplight. The Moon Muse, with its stars and crescent, brings the same night sky into a more decorative style for the next wall. Blue rooms are its natural home: navy, ink, stormy grey or a dark teal; against white, a navy mat links frame and picture. Brass, bronze or black frames all suit the instruments. Avoid placing it opposite a bright window, as reflections hide the dark areas; a warm desk lamp nearby is far better. From the 7168 × 10752 px file, it prints with crisp detail up to about 60 × 90 cm. A Frame TV version with a gallery mat is included for the screen.