The sketch of the famous spiral was made by William Parsons, the third Earl of Rosse, who observed the M51 galaxy from his 72 in telescope - then the largest in the world. The M51 galaxy - estimated to be 37m light years away - could not have been seen by the naked eye, proving the work could not have been painted "from nature".
For the full story - click the title
Irish Art
Snippets of interest to lovers of Art. News about Irish Artists or otherwise. The odd rant...
Sunday
Irishman Inspired Van Gogh
It has been one of the art world's greatest puzzles - how Vincent van Gogh was able to recreate a detailed astronomical depiction of the night sky without the aid of a powerful telescope. Now a British academic has claimed that, far from gaining inspiration for his famous work, The Starry Night, from his garret window, the artist copied the image from a sketch drawn by an Irish astronomer.
The sketch of the famous spiral was made by William Parsons, the third Earl of Rosse, who observed the M51 galaxy from his 72 in telescope - then the largest in the world. The M51 galaxy - estimated to be 37m light years away - could not have been seen by the naked eye, proving the work could not have been painted "from nature".
For the full story - click the title
Irish Art
The sketch of the famous spiral was made by William Parsons, the third Earl of Rosse, who observed the M51 galaxy from his 72 in telescope - then the largest in the world. The M51 galaxy - estimated to be 37m light years away - could not have been seen by the naked eye, proving the work could not have been painted "from nature".
For the full story - click the title
Irish Art
