Description: Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus made by Ernst Ludvig Riepenhausen showing a three-quarter-length figure of the astronomer looking slightly to the left. The inscription below is COPERNICUS. It is either a copy of the portrait formerly belonging to the Academic Gymnasium in Toruń or of a drawing by Theodorus de Bry. The engraver somewhat softened the sharp facial features typical of the earlier representations of the astronomer. This portrait was made in the first quarter of the 19th c.
Technique: Portrait of Copernicus copperplate engraving
Date: ca. 1780
Description: A half-length-figure portrait of Copernicus turning three quarters to the right surrounded by an oval border. In his left hand the astronomer is holding an object symbolising the heliocentric system. The engraving was made by Conrad Westermayer towards the end of the 18th c., most probably in the 1780’s. The engraver based this work on Jacob van Meurs' print made for Pierre Gassedi's Nicolai Copernici vita from the mid-17th c. in which Copernicus is wearing a large turned down collar. Its lithograph version was printed opposite the title page of the Polish edition of Camille Flammarion's Life of Nicolaus Copernicus. 1473-1873, Warsaw 1873
Description: Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus based on his epitaph effigy in SS Johns' church in Toruń and printed in Christoph Hartknoch's Alt und Neues Preussen, Frankfurt 1684. The print is a mirror image of the original source. Like the original though, the lower part of the picture features an intriguing sentence, an excerpt from an ode to the Passion of Christ by Pope Pius II in which the author compares the astronomer to a criminal crucified alongside Christ. The caption which labels Copernicus as a mathematician from Toruń must have been taken from the engraving by Theodorus de Bry printed in Boissard's Images
Description: Portrait taken from Der Teutsche Merkur vom Jahr 1776 published in Weimar in 1776. It features the upper part of Copernicus' body with his face turning to the left on an oval background. The engraving was made by Nilson Esais whereas the drawing had been made by G.M. Kraus. Most probably Theodorus de Bry's print taken from Boissard's publication served Kraus as the iconographic prototype of his drawing
Description: Copperplate engraving by Theodorus de Bry from Liege and published in Jean-Jacques Boissard's Icones virorum illustrium in 1597 in Frankfurt-am-Main. The work was based on Stimmer's wood engraving and is a portrait featuring the bust of Copernicus. Turning to the right, the astronomer is holding a lily-of-the valley in his left hand. The portrait has an oval-shaped border set against a panel with floral decorative motifs. The publisher encircled Copernicus' figure with such personal details as his dates of birth and death as well as place of birth and origin: Tornaus, Borussus
Location: Regional Museum in Toruń
Contact
Nicolaus Copernicus University Library Gagarina 13 87-100 Toruń Poland
International Centre for Copernican Studies Bojarskiego 1 87-100 Toruń Poland