The image of Nicolaus Copernicus

The graphic was prepared for the Dutch publisher Bullart, who published the book "Academie des scicnces et des Arts" in Amsterdam in 1682. There, on page 75, there is the described image of Nicolaus Copernicus, but with an additional sentence under the portrait reading: Nicolaus Copernicus / Quid tum?ƒi mihi terra movetur, Solq quieƒcit, / Ac cœlum: conƒtat calculus inde meus . / M.D. XLI.
The presented portrait of Copernicus was inspired by the graphic by Theodore de Bry from the end of the 16th century. The scientist's face, hair arrangement and the caftan he was wearing were shown in a similar way. Moreover, the artist demonstrated similar modelling of the figure to de Bry, applying chiaroscuro to individual parts of the graphic and the arrangement of folds on fabrics. The astronomer was presented against the background of a draped curtain in a half-length, turned 3/4 to the right. He was dressed in a cassock and a fur-trimmed caftan with a turn-down collar. Copernicus sat on a chair, his right hand resting on a table on which the emblems of the astronomer's work were shown: a compass-divider, a ruler and a globe-model of the armillary sphere. In his hand he holds a sheet of paper on which models of celestial bodies were drawn. The line is decisive and expressive, yet at the same time conveying precision of detail. A ribbon with the inscription: Nicolaus Copernicus was nailed to the table.