Art: Realistic solar eclipse
Monday, January 28th, 2008
Today’s APOD showcases what historians believe is the first accurately-depicted solar eclipse found in art:
The above painting was completed in 1735 by Cosmas Damian Asam, a painter and architect famous in early eighteenth century Germany. Clearly drawn is not only a total solar eclipse, but the solar corona and the diamond ring effect visible when sunlight flows only between mountains on the Moon. The person depicted viewing these eclipse phenomena is St. Benedict.
