Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus (Schumann print)

What it is

This is an engraved print portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus, produced by the Gebrüder Schumann printing firm in Zwickau. It is held today by Leipzig University Library in Germany.

The print shows a man with wavy shoulder-length hair wearing a fur-trimmed garment, holding a small sphere used to represent the heavens, inside an octagonal frame with his name captioned below.

Why it matters

Copernicus died long before this print was made, so it is not a true likeness but an imagined image created to honor his fame as an astronomer. Such prints show how later generations remembered and celebrated scientific figures, often using symbolic objects like the sphere to represent their achievements.

Look closer

• What does the sphere in his hand suggest about how the printmaker wanted viewers to think of him?
• Since this was made after his death, what choices might the artist have made in imagining his face?
• Why might a printing company have wanted to produce and sell portraits like this?