The image of Nicolaus Copernicus

One of the earliest engravings depicting Nicolaus Copernicus. The woodcut shows the scientist in half-length, in a rectangular frame, with his head slightly turned to the right. Copernicus's partially visible right hand stands out against the background with subtle hatching, holding a lily of the valley - a symbol of medical practice. The figure is dressed in a caftan with a rolled-up collar decorated with fur lamels on the shoulders. The engraver placed inscriptions in decorative fields framed with a pearl ornament: "NICOLAVS COPERNICVS / Mathematicus" and a Latin couplet: "Quid tum? si mihi terra mouetur, Solque quiescit, / Ac coelum: constat calculus inde meus. / M. D. XLI." [What then? If the Earth moves for me, the Sun will rest. Then my calculations for the sky will be established. 1543].