3-057-204 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Ptolemaic Solar System, 1660. Scenographia Systematis Mundani Ptolemaici. At the centre of the map is Earth being circled by the sun, inside a band containing signs of the Zodiac and the orbits of the planets. Surrounding the map, angels and cherubs are seen in the top corners, while astronomers and other scholars are in discussion over books and globes in the bottom corners. The Ptolemaic System held that the Earth was at the centre of the solar system and that crystal spheres kept the other planets in a perfect alignment. This theory was discredited by Copernicus' heliocentric theory. This map reflects the growing interest people had in the Elizabethan period of exploring the world in which they lived. From Harmonia Macrocosmica or Atlas Coelestis.