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The constellations Andromeda and PiscesFolio from a dispersed Kitab Suwar al-Kawakib (Images of the Fixed Stars)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Aga Khan Museum
About Aga Khan Museum, Toronto
ca. 1450
AKM43
Opaque watercolour, ink, gold, and silver on paper
21.3 x 14.7cm
Timurid
Iran
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.
Former Prince Saddrudin Aga Khan Collection
"The constellations Andromeda and PiscesFolio from a dispersed Kitab Suwar al-Kawakib (Images of the Fixed Stars)" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;ca;Mus21;23;en
MWNF Working Number: CA1 23
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