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Primary sourcePainting1598

Quadrans Muralis sive Tichonicus

Tycho Brahe · 1598

A famous engraving from Tycho Brahe's 1598 book showing him seated on his great mural quadrant at Uraniborg, surrounded by assistants at work.

This engraving shows Tycho himself at work in his observatory, surrounded by his instruments and assistants.

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Hand-coloured engraving titled 'Quadrans Muralis sive Tichonicus'. Tycho Brahe sits on a wall quadrant in a multi-storey observatory with arched galleries, assistants at instruments and a table, a dog, and a globe.
Quadrans Muralis sive Tichonicus, engraving from Tycho Brahe's Astronomiae instauratae mechanica, 1598, hand coloured.

About this source

What it is

This hand-coloured engraving, titled 'Quadrans Muralis sive Tichonicus', comes from Tycho Brahe's 1598 book Astronomiae instauratae mechanica. It shows Brahe seated on his wall quadrant inside a multi-storey observatory, with assistants, a globe and a dog nearby.

Why it matters

The image was carefully staged: the painting shown above the quadrant had been commissioned by Brahe himself in 1587 from painters Hans Knieper, Hans van Steenwinckel the Elder and Tobias Gemperle. It is less a snapshot than a piece of self-presentation, showing how Brahe wanted the world to see his observatory, his team, and his place at the centre of it all.

Look closer

  • Why might Brahe have wanted himself shown at the centre of this busy scene?
  • What do the assistants, instruments, and even the dog add to the impression the image creates?
  • Why is this image useful to historians even though it was designed to promote Brahe?

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

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Book

Primary source

De Nova Stella

Tycho Brahe · 1573

Engraved plan of Uraniborg, Tycho Brahe's observatory on Hven. Title text across the top reads Arcis Uraniburgi. A central circular courtyard holds a blue-roofed main building, surrounded by diamond-shaped gardens and tree-filled grounds, enclosed by a fortified wall with corner towers.Artifact

Primary source

Uraniborg

1576-1580

Scanned page of handwritten manuscript with a geometric diagram at top: circles, lines radiating from a central point labeled a, and a compass-like construction with labels including c. Below are several lines of cursive handwritten Latin-style text, some struck through.Diary entry

Primary source

Brahe notebook page

Tycho Brahe

Two-page scan of an early 17th-century book: on the left, an engraved frontispiece of a domed rotunda with columns, astronomical instruments and figures, and a tablet reading Tabulae Rudolphinae; on the right, a title page in Latin with large capitals announcing Tabulae Rudolphinae by Johannes Kepler, dated 1627, with a red library stamp at top right.Book

Secondary source

Rudolphine Tables

Johannes Kepler · 1627

Engraved print portrait of a bearded man with a large ruff collar, a fur-trimmed cloak, and chain necklaces with a medallion, shown bust-length within an arched frame. Coats of arms with name labels surround the arch and pillars, and a Latin inscription appears below.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of Tycho Brahe (without a hat)

Jacques de Gheyn II

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