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The Constellations Andromeda and Pisces
Folio from a dispersed Kitab Suwar al-Kawakib (Images of the Fixed Stars)
  • Accession Number:AKM43
  • Creator:‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (d. 986)
  • Place:Iran
  • Dimensions:21.3 x 14.7 cm
  • Date:ca. 1450
  • Materials and Technique:Opaque watercolour, ink, gold, and silver on paper

The lady in this saffron-coloured robe and crown-like helmet is a personification of the constellation Andromeda, which was identified by the second-century CE astronomer Ptolemy and continues to be considered a major constellation. With the translation of Ptolemy’s Almagest in the court of the ninth-century Caliph al-Ma’mun in Baghdad, astronomers working under the patronage of the Muslim rulers in modern-day Iraq and Iran adopted the Greco-Roman astronomical knowledge and expanded on it from the indigenous Arab (Anwa’) and Indian astronomical traditions, in this illustration combining Andromeda with Pisces. The most prominent example of this tradition is Images of the Fixed Stars written by the Iranian astronomer ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (died 986), which contained two representations of each constellation, one looking up at the constellation from Earth and the other looking down on it from above. Al-Sufi’s work continued to be in broad circulation, and various copies exist in major museum collections.

Note: This online resource is reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis. We are committed to improving this information and will revise and update knowledge about this object as it becomes available.

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