Visions of Urania: Women, Art, and Astronomy in Eighteenth-Century Europe
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
VISIONS OF URANIA: WOMEN, ART, AND ASTRONOMY IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EUROPE Diane Louise Woodin A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Art Chapel Hill 2018 Approved by: Carol Magee Melissa Hyde Daniel Sherman Carolyn Allmendinger John Bowles © 2018 Diane Louise Woodin ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Diane Woodin: Women, Art and Astronomy in the Eighteenth Century (Under the direction of Mary Sheriff and Carol Magee) My dissertation analyzes the ways in which the visual culture of astronomy brought together discourses of self, gender, and social place within the intellectual circles of eighteenth- century Europe through the efforts of three women with connections to the Académie des Sciences in Paris (Maria Clara Eimmart, the Duchesse du Maine, and Marquise du Châtelet). I argue that each of the women strategically affiliated themselves with Urania, the muse of astronomy to stake a claim in Natural Philosophy through their artwork or patronage. Several images of the figure Urania emphasize the close association between the depiction of the allegorical body and the femme savante (learned woman) in portraiture. The little-known oeuvre of Nuremburg artist and astronomer Maria Clara Eimmart-Müller showcases a masterful interest in celestial imagery that is made all the more compelling by strategies of mimicry, networking and appropriation. François de Troy’s painting, La Leçon d’astronomie de la duchesse du Maine (c.1704), in which the portrayal of the Duchesse du Maine hails the muse of astronomy, illustrates how du Maine took avantage of Enlightened curiosity to draw the most elite of the literati to her court. Portraits of the Marquise du Châtelet tested the boundaries of private/public study even as her affiliation with Urania facilitated her personal quest or knowledge. iii To my mother who gave me the world, to my father who drove me around it, and to my husband who completes it. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work would not have been possible without the financial support of the Georges Lurcy Fellowship, the MEMS Dissertation Fellowship, and the MEMS Research Awards. Everyone in the Department of Art at UNC Chapel has made my years at Carolina a positive and enriching experience. I am especially indebted to Carol Magee, who oversaw the completion of my dissertation and who worked actively to provide me with the support, compassion, and encouragement that I needed to achieve my academic goals. I am grateful to all of those with whom I have had the pleasure to work during the research and writing of my project. Each of the members of my Dissertation Committee has provided me with the discerning feedback that I needed to take my project further. Beyond the page, Carolyn Allmendinger has kindly shown me opportunities for professional growth during my years at UNC. Daniel Sherman provided me with considerable advice throughout my graduate coursework; his perspicacity is unforgettable. My gratitude extends to Mimi Hellman, who introduced me to eighteenth-century France as an undergraduate and who offered me her time and encouragement during the early stages of my dissertation research. I would particularly like to thank Melissa Hyde, whose work on eighteenth-century art and gender has always been a source of inspiration. Her invaluable art-historical expertise and astute insight helped me through the worst of my academic dry-spells. This dissertation would not have been submitted were it not for the concerted effort of Melissa Hyde and Carol Magee. I am profoundly thankful to have had the pleasure of working with Mary Sheriff, who saw me through the research for my dissertation from beginning to end with interminable v generosity and commitment. I learned from her candid advice, her exhaustive repertoire of references, and her ability to offer le mot juste. Mary Sheriff was, for me, the dixhuitiste par excellence and the quintessence of an exceptional woman. I will forever emulate her unrivaled delight in the visual world and her careful scholarship. In her mentorship, I flourished. Nobody has been more important to me in the pursuit of this project than the members of my family. I carry the love of my parents, Leslie and Robert Woodin, with me wherever I go. My mother will always be my guiding star: her tremendous accomplishment and enduring devotion have brought me farther than anyone could measure. And, if I ran too far, I knew my father would be there to answer my call. Finally, I thank my husband and the love of my life, Eric Welborn, who has met my tears and absences through these many years with comfort and conviction. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ....................................................................................................... viii INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER ONE: MARIA CLARA EIMMART: A REVOLUTIONARY ARTIST OF THE COPERNICAN KIND .........................................................................26 CHAPTER TWO: PAINTING THE CURIOUS: FRANÇOIS DE TROY, THE DUCHESSE DU MAINE, AND SCIENCE AT THE PERIPHERY .......................67 CHAPTER THREE: COUP DE MAIN, OR REACHING FOR THE STARS ..........................101 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................136 ILLUSTRATIONS ......................................................................................................................141 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................194 vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE 1 - “The Muses Polyhymnia, Erato, Terpsichore, and Urania,” From George Richardson’s Iconology , London, 1779.........................................141 FIGURE 2 - Fresco fragment depicting Urania, Muse of astronomy, from the House of Julia Felix in Pompeii , 62-79 AD .........................................................142 FIGURE 3 - Eustache Le Sueur, Uranie , c.1652-1655 ...............................................................143 FIGURE 4 - Charles Meynier, Apollo, God of Light, Eloquence, Poetry and the Fine Arts with Urania, Muse of Astronomy , 1798 ................................................144 FIGURE 5 - Francesco Curti, Frontispiece in Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Almagestum novum , 1651 ...................................................................................................145 FIGURE 6 - Maria Clara Eimmart (after Annibale Carracci), Saint Margaret Pointing to Heaven, with a Globe Next to Her , 1693 ........................................................146 FIGURE 7 - Georg Christoph Eimmart the Younger, Man Sitting on a Cloud Above a Battlefield, Pointing to a Globe , 1693 ..................................................................147 FIGURE 8 - Cornelius Bloemaert (after Annibale Carracci), Saint Margaret of Antioch , 1630-50 ............................................................................................................148 FIGURE 9 - Annibale Carracci, St. Margaret , 1600s..................................................................149 FIGURE 10 - Johannes Vermeer, Allegory of the Catholic Faith, c.1670 ..................................150 FIGURE 11 - Johann Adam Delsenbach, View of Eimmart’s Observatory ...............................151 FIGURE 12 - Sébastien Leclerc, Louis XIV visits the Académie des Sciences , 1671 .................152 FIGURE 13 - Maria Clara Eimmart, Mercurius in disco Solari observatus A. ° 1697 The 24th Oct: v. Noribergae à Maria Clara Eimmarta .....................................153 FIGURE 14 - Jean Patigny, Det. Mare Australe and Mare Orientale Complex, 1645 ................154 FIGURE 15 - Maria Clara Eimmart, Full Moon, c.1700 .............................................................155 FIGURE 16 - Maria Clara Eimmart, Aspect of Jupiter, c.1700 ..................................................156 FIGURE 17 - Maria Clara Eimmart, Phase of Mercury as observed by Johannes Hevelius, c.1700 .................................................................................................157 viii FIGURE 18 - Maria Clara Eimmart, Paraselene and Perhelion, c.1694-96 ................................158 FIGURE 19 - Maria Clara Eimmart, Comets, c.1700 ..................................................................159 FIGURE 20 - Maria Clara Eimmart, Phase of Moon observed in August 1697 .........................160 FIGURE 21 - Maria Clara Eimmart, Phase of the Moon observed in April 1693, c.1700 ..........161 FIGURE 22 - John Russell, The Face of the Moon , 1795 ...........................................................162 FIGURE 23 - François de Troy, La Leçon d’astronomie de la Duchesse du Maine , c.1704 ......163 FIGURE 24 - C. Blageart, Frontispiece for Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle’s Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes , 1686 .....................................................................164 FIGURE 25 - Frontispiece for Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle’s Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes , From Oeuvres diverses de M. de Fontenelle, de l'Academie francoise. Tome premier second Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes. Par M. de Fontenelle , 1716 ...........................................................................165 FIGURE 26 - Louis Michel Dumesnil, Queen Christina