Folios from a Book of Constellations (Kitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib al-thābita)

Titel:: Folios from a Book of Constellations (Kitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib al-thābita)

Description:: Folios from a Book of Constellations (Kitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib al-thābita). These loosely bound folios may have been intended for a copy of al-Sufi's well-known Book of the Constellations: each page features a single painting of a classical constellation figure, such as Cassiopeia or Pegasus. The same figure is then repeated on the reverse side of each folio, shown in mirror image. This shows the constellation first as it appears in the sky, and then as it appears on a celestial globe. The stars are painted as gold circles, but there are no captions, labels or text. Later copies of this work are often organised in this way, showing that the painter and the scribe worked separately. Normally, these illustrated folios would next be added into a manuscript, and inserted into the correct chapters to complete the treatise. Codex, 22 folios, colours and gold on paper, 22 constellation figures, no text or labels, probably produced for insertion into a copy of the Book of Constellations (Kitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib al-thābita) by `Abd al-Raḥmān ibn `Umar al-Ṣūfī (Rayy 903- 986 Baghdad), unsigned, possibly Isfahan, Iran, c. 1650-1700.

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