The discoveries of Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Magellan would not have changed humanity’s understanding of the world around us if they had not been comprehended and framed in the form of a new geography. This task was completed by Gerardus Mercator.
And the heroes of these achievements, at first glance, do not at all correspond romantic image captains, sung by Nikolai Gumilev. However, formulating new ideas about the world around us and overcoming medieval stereotypes sometimes required from them no less courage, determination and adventurism, as well as knowledge, patience and imagination.
The conjecture about the spherical shape of the Earth was expressed back in antiquity. This was first mentioned, apparently, in the teachings of the Pythagorean school. Aristotle saw confirmation of this in the form of the Earth's shadow on the lunar disk. The famous astronomer, mathematician and geographer Eratosthenes of Cyrene (2nd century BC) even measured the radius of the Earth by the difference in the lengths of the midday shadow from the pillars in Alexandria and Siena. The sphericity of the Earth is reflected in the ancient map compiled by Claudius Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD. It depicts three parts of the world - Asia, Europe and Libya (as Africa was formerly called), as well as Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean and other seas. This map already has a degree grid. And although areas located far from the Mediterranean and known at that time only by rumors have rather fantastic outlines, neither ancient world, nor in subsequent centuries, until the 15th century, did anyone create best card than Ptolemy.
In the Middle Ages the majority geographical knowledge antiquity were forgotten and lost. Only in the 13th-14th centuries did compasses and nautical charts appear in Europe, which fairly accurately depicted coastline, and the interior regions of the land were filled with pictures from the life of the peoples who inhabited them, sometimes very far from reality. In 1375-1377, Abraham Cresques compiled the famous Catalan maps. They reflected all the navigation experience accumulated by that time. Instead of a grid of parallels and meridians, lines were drawn on them, marking the direction indicated by the compass needle: they could be used to navigate long voyages. In 1409, Manuel Chrysoporus translated Ptolemy's Geography, rediscovering it for his contemporaries.
The sea voyages of Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Magellan provided many new facts that did not fit into previous geographical ideas. They required comprehension and design in the form of a new geography, which made it possible to carry out long-distance trade and military campaigns. Gerard Mercator completed this task, famous geographer, author of new cartography.
Gerard Mercator was born on March 5, 1512 in the city of Rupelmonde (modern Belgium), in a region that was then part of the Netherlands. He was the seventh child in a family that lived quite poorly. When Gerard was 14 or 15 years old, his father died and the family was left without a livelihood. Gerard's tutor becomes his relative, curé Gisbert Kremer. Thanks to him, Gerard receives an education at the gymnasium of the small town of Bois de Dunes. Although this gymnasium had a spiritual orientation, it also studied classical ancient languages and the principles of logic. At this time Gerard changes his German surname Kremer, which means “shopkeeper”, in Latin Mercator means “trader”, “merchant”.
He graduated from high school very quickly, in three and a half years, and almost immediately continued his studies at the University of Louvain, again thanks to the support of Gisbert Kremer. Louvain was the largest scientific and training center Netherlands, it had 43 gymnasiums, and its university, founded back in 1425, was the best in Northern Europe. The city became a center of humanistic education and free-thinking thanks to Erasmus of Rotterdam (1465-1536), who lived for some time in Louvain.
It was during his university years that Mercator developed a special interest in the natural sciences, especially astronomy and geography. He begins to read the works of ancient authors, trying to find out how the globe works. Subsequently, he would write: “When I became addicted to the study of philosophy, I really liked the study of nature, because it provides an explanation of the causes of all things and is the source of all knowledge, but I turned only to a particular issue - to the study of the structure of the world.” Convinced of the insufficiency of his knowledge in the field of mathematics, especially geometry, he begins to study it independently. The textbook that existed at that time clearly did not satisfy him, and he read the first seven books of Euclid’s Elements in the original.
“When I became addicted to the study of philosophy, I really liked the study of nature, because it is the source of all knowledge, but I turned only to the study of the structure of the world.”
From a letter from G. Mercator
After graduating from university, Mercator received the degree of “master of arts” (licentiate) and remained to live in Louvain. Without losing touch with the university, he listens to lectures on the planets by Professor Gemma Frisius, one of the outstanding people of that time. A brilliant astronomer, mathematician, cartographer and doctor, Frisius paved new paths in science and practice. He wrote works on cosmography and geography, he made globes and astronomical instruments. Mercator becomes his student and assistant. Starting with engraving work, he then moved on to more complex ones - to the manufacture of globes, astrolabes and other astronomical instruments. The instruments he designed and manufactured almost immediately brought him fame due to their precision.
At the same time, Mercator was involved in the development of the mathematical foundations of cartography. The main problem was that due to the spherical shape of the Earth, its surface cannot be depicted on a plane without distortion, and it was necessary to find a way in which the images of the oceans and continents on the map would look most similar. At the age of 25, Mercator presented his first independent cartographic work: a map of Palestine, published in Louvain. Next year he publishes a map of the world in a double heart-shaped projection, made very carefully and taking into account the latest geographical information. On this map, for the first time, the name America was extended to both continents of the New World, and America itself was depicted as separated from Asia, contrary to the then widespread misconception. All of Mercator’s works are subordinated to a single plan and are closely interconnected: in the explanatory text to the map, he says that the world shown on the map will subsequently be examined in detail.
In 1541, Mercator began making a globe of the Earth, which became one of the best for that time. It rotated freely around an axis passing through the poles and fixed inside a massive copper ring. Distinctive feature This globe had a grid of curved lines painted on its surface, designed to facilitate maritime navigation. These lines suggest that when Mercator created the globe, he had largely completed the development of the famous cartographic projection, which was later named after him.
The Mercator map projection increases the size of the polar countries, but makes it easy to determine the desired direction - this is of great importance in navigation.
Thanks to his work on making maps and astronomical instruments, Mercator became increasingly famous, his fame even reaching the King of Spain, Charles V. But his wide fame also attracted the attention of the Inquisition. Information appears that Mercator freely discusses inconsistencies in the teachings of Aristotle and the Bible, and in addition, he is constantly traveling, which in itself always looks suspicious in the eyes of the inquisitors. In 1544 he goes to prison. Numerous intercessions do not lead to success, and only after the intervention of Charles V, after spending four months in prison, Mercator regains his freedom.
Fearing persecution, he moves to Duisburg, where he can breathe more freely, but the working conditions are much worse. This city is remote from the sea and from trade routes, and it is more difficult to obtain information about the latest discoveries, obtain new drawings and maps here than in Louvain. However, the geographer Abraham Ortelius helps him out: close correspondence begins between his colleagues, thanks to which Mercator receives the necessary information.
In Duisburg he continues to work on the publication of maps. Now he works alone, drawing up, drawing, and engraving maps, composing inscriptions and legends, and also taking care of selling maps falls on his shoulders. The work on creating a comprehensive work on cosmography, which absorbed him entirely, began in 1564. Mercator conceived a cartographic work that included sections “Creation of the World”, “Description of Celestial Objects”, “Earth and Seas”, “Genealogy and History of States”, “Chronology”.
Due to the spherical shape of the Earth, its surface cannot be depicted on a plane absolutely accurately. On the maps compiled by Mercator, the outlines of the oceans and continents are presented with the least distortion.
In 1569, Mercator published a map of the World, which he called “A new and most complete image of the globe, verified and adapted for use in navigation.” It was made on 18 sheets, and was made using new way images of a grid of parallels and meridians, which later received the name Mercator (or cylindrical) projection. When drawing up a map, he set himself the task of showing the globe on a plane so that the images of all points earth's surface corresponded to their true position, and the outlines of the countries, if possible, were not distorted. Another goal was to depict the world known to the ancients - that is, the Old World - and the place it occupied on Earth. Mercator wrote that with the discovery of new continents, the achievements of the ancients in the study of the Old World appeared more clearly and vividly before the whole world, the image of which is presented with the most complete possible completeness on the map.
By 1571, Mercator completed the work he called “Atlas, or cartographic considerations about the creation of the world and the appearance of what was created.” Maps were included with the Atlas. Since then, the word “atlas” has become a common noun for a collection of maps. The publication of the Atlas was published only in 1595, a year after the death of Gerardus Mercator.
John Dee's map of 1582. On it we see almost the same image of Arctida as on the Mercator map of 1569, but without coloring different colors different territories and without applying names. The arctida of the “pygmies” here protrudes to the south even more, but the section of coastline separated by a mountain range is completely absent here. America has moved very far from the Fourth Arctida, so the ocean in this place is very wide, and the narrowest place is in the strait that makes contact with Asia. So the tendency towards separation of the Arctida from the continents is carried out here to the greatest extent.
The ability to draw plants in detail and accurately is an undoubted indicator of the artist's skill.
Naturalistic drawings of plants can be amazing. Their successful implementation requires attention to detail combined with the ability not to distort the form with the author's fantasies or to do it minimally. Which requires discipline, accuracy, and, in general, talent.
A floral artist depicts forms created by evolution over millions of years. And the ability to convey these forms most accurately, while being beautiful and impressive, deserves admiration.
The rise in the level of naturalistic floral design coincides with the boom of morphological disciplines in Europe, which occurred in the 17th - early 20th centuries.
And today we'll look at some botanical drawings from books from this time period.
The book The Family Herbal or an Account of All those English Plants, which are Remarkable for their Virtues, published in London around 1780.
A long name in the spirit of its time. The book is dedicated to medicinal plants and contains a large number of their images.
Some of them.
In the 18th century there was no color printing. Therefore, color drawings were created by hand-coloring the engravings.
As you can see, this is done very carefully. And this despite the fact that the engravings were painted with a brush. And this is without the right to even one gross mistake, because in this case the whole book would be spoiled!
Drawings early XIX centuries were created using the same technique.
The wonderful book Conversations on Botany is structured in the form of a catechism. It was published in London in 1817 and contains excellent color illustrations.
Some of them.
Coloring engravings did not go out of fashion even by the middle of the 19th century, despite the fact that by that time mankind had already invented chromolithography. Here are hand-colored drawings from the wonderful book Popular History of British Mosses, published in London in 1854.
These complex life forms live right under our noses. But people rarely notice them.
Coloring of engravings existed before mid-19th century, but everything changed when engravings were replaced by chromolithographic drawings.
Here are the drawings from books The British Grasses and Sedges, published in London around 1870.
Exquisite “portraits” of representatives of the kingdom of Flora, ancient atlases with images of flowers and herbs will reveal to visitors of the exhibition the bewitching beauty of botanical drawings, the laconicism and sophistication of which create a contemplative mood in the soul, an atmosphere of silence, peace and harmony. The main “heroes” of this genre are plants; from details (shoots, flowers, fruits, leaves) to still life composition.
The works of Russian artists in the language of graphics and watercolors will tell about a classic noble estate, about the life and interests of its inhabitants. You can’t imagine ancient interiors otherwise than with a charming watercolor or engraving of a flower hanging on the wall. Beauty " noble nest"consists not so much in the architecture of the building itself, but in the charm of what surrounds it. Russian park art was created on Russian soil, by Russian masters and in harmonious combination with Russian nature.
You will see landscapes with views of park alleys and estates, portraits of their owners, interiors of greenhouses and winter gardens, still lifes, antique dishes and samples of dried plants. Collection and decoration local herbarium was very common in the 18th and 19th centuries in Russia and corresponded to the European and English fashion of that time. It is known that the Tolstoys, Aksakovs, and Pushkin’s daughters were passionate about this homemade form of creativity. Floral painting is one of the traditional motifs for decorating porcelain. Garden, field, exotic flowers perfectly harmonize with the white surface of the material, which itself is like a delicate white flower.
You will see exquisite floral watercolors by the artist, a member of the Imperial Academy Khudestov M.V. Vasilyev (since 1860 he taught the course “Drawing flowers in watercolors” at the Stroganov School), as well as the works of his students: sketches for fabrics with herbal and floral patterns. The exhibition will feature a unique album “Sketches of Plants and Their Use in Art Crafts” famous artist Art Nouveau era by Maurice Verneuil.
The creativity of the masters of botanical illustration of the 20th century is represented by the works of Sofia Matveeva, the artist of the Chief botanical garden USSR Academy of Sciences, Alexander Shipilenko - illustrator, author of drawings for sets of postcards and popular science books about plants and mushrooms. Fine, exquisite work contemporary artists- Daria Fomicheva, Olga Makrushenko, as well as teachers of the Watercolor School - will undoubtedly decorate the exhibition. Lyudmila Solod, master of the artistic herbarium (the link between the scientific herbarium and artistic botanical drawings), also took part in the exhibition.
Museums of Moscow and the Moscow region, the Icon Library of the Herbarium of Moscow State University named after M.V. presented exhibits from their collections to the exhibition. Lomonosov, private collectors, artists.
Master classes are planned to be held during the exhibition
“Drawing flowers in watercolors.”