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Secondary sourcePainting

Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus holding an astronomical device

C. B.

A later black-and-white engraving of Copernicus holding an armillary sphere. It shows a later artist's view of him rather than a likeness made in his lifetime.

Shows a later artist's image of Copernicus holding an astronomical device, useful for discussing how his astronomy was pictured.

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Black and white engraving of a man with wavy shoulder-length hair in a fur-trimmed garment, holding an armillary sphere-like astronomical device in his right hand, resting his left hand on a ledge. Caption below reads Nicolas Copernic, with birth and death dates and a publisher line.
C. B., Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus, half length, holding an astronomical device. Wellcome Collection, London.

About this source

What it is

This black-and-white engraving shows a man with wavy shoulder-length hair in a fur-trimmed garment. He holds an armillary sphere-like astronomical device in his right hand and rests his left hand on a ledge. The caption reads 'Nicolas Copernic', with birth and death dates and a publisher line. The creator is recorded as C. B. The Wellcome Collection in London holds the print, and the facts give no date.

Why it matters

Copernicus argued that the Earth and planets move around the Sun, a major change in how people understood the universe. Portraits that show him with an instrument connect his image to that work. Because this print was made long after his lifetime, it reflects how later makers chose to present him as a scientist.

Look closer

  • What does the instrument suggest about the kind of work this man did?
  • Who would have bought or viewed a print like this, and why?
  • How could you tell whether this image shows the real appearance of Copernicus?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Nicolaus Copernicus on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of Nicolaus Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, printed 1543 in Nuremberg by Johann Petreius. Large capitals read NICOLAI COPERNICI TORINENSIS, followed by the book title and an address to the reader in Latin. Handwritten ink marks read Bibliotheca and Univers, and a Greek motto appears below the text.Book

Primary source

De revolutionibus orbium coelestium

Nicolaus Copernicus · 1543

Engraved portrait print of Nicolaus Copernicus in an octagonal frame with stippled background. A man with wavy shoulder-length hair wears a fur-trimmed garment and holds a small armillary-style sphere. Caption reads NICOLAUS COPERNICUS, with publisher line Zwickau, bei Gebr. Schumann below.Painting

Secondary source

Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus (Schumann print)

Gebrüder Schumann

Scanned page from a 1543 printed book titled Nicolai Copernici, showing a diagram of concentric circles with the Sun at the center, labeled planetary orbits including Mercury, Venus, Earth (terra) with the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the outer sphere of fixed stars. Latin text surrounds the diagram.Artifact

Primary source

Copernicus's Diagram of the Planetary System

Nicolaus Copernicus · 1543

Engraved oval portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus, a man with wavy shoulder-length hair and a fur-collared garment, inside a decorative border with Latin inscriptions and dates, on a book page photographed on a dark background with a gray scale.Painting

Secondary source

Engraved Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus (Herzog August Library)

Unbekannt

Engraved portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus in an oval frame, shown on a book page with a page number 52 in the corner. The man has curly hair and wears a fur-trimmed garment. Latin inscription 'NICOLAUS COPERNICUS' appears at the bottom, with a verse text block below and a catalogue number beneath the page.Painting

Secondary source

Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus (Albertina Museum)

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