Description: Representation of Copernicus in a rectangular frame with rosettes in the corners. The quarter-length figure of the astronomer in half-profile to the right. The engraving was based on the so-called Toruń portrait formerly belonging to the Academic Gymnasium in Toruń. The characteristic fur-lined collar of Copernicus' tunic is somewhat different from that in the original engraving by Theodorus de Bry. Inscription: Copernicus Eigenthum & Verlag des bibl. Instituts in Hildburghausen beneath. This engraving from the mid-19th c. is a typical example of 19th c. popular graphics
Description: According to the inscription on the engraving it was commissioned by Prince Henryk Lubomirski in the mid-19th c. It illustrates an alleged portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus kept in Lubomirski's collection. Lost during WWII, the painting was attributed to Marco Basaiti as indicated in the inscription: M. BASAITI FACIEBAT MDXII. The date of origin – 1512 – is questionable and so is the name of Nicolaus Copernicus as the person depicted. The person portrayed is holding an armillary sphere and compasses in his right hand. There is an astrolabe – an attribute of astronomers – on the left