Nicolaus Copernicus
Anonymous (Torún school), c. 1580
He moved the Earth. The Torún portrait of the man who put the Sun at the center.
About this work
This is a portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus, the astronomer who placed the Sun rather than the Earth at the centre of the universe. The painter is unknown and Wikimedia Commons gives no date; our catalogue follows the usual attribution to an anonymous artist of about 1580, the type associated with Copernicus's home town of Toruń. Copernicus was born there on 19 February 1473, in Royal Prussia within the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, the youngest of four children of a merchant from Kraków. Some time before 1514 he set out an early outline of his heliocentric theory, known as the Commentariolus. His full model was published in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium just before his death on 24 May 1543, and it set off what is now called the Copernican Revolution. He was reportedly buried in Frombork Cathedral, where searches for his remains failed for two centuries. A team began a new search in 2004, and a forensic reconstruction from a skull found there closely resembled the features, including a broken nose and a scar above the left eye, of a Copernicus self-portrait. DNA from the bones matched hairs taken from a book he had owned.
Sources: Wikimedia Commons · Wikipedia: Nicolaus Copernicus
Print facts
- Native resolution
- 3,015 × 4,140 px
- Sharp at 150 ppi up to
- 20 × 27 in
- Sizes
- Small (15 × 20 in) · $100 · 201 ppi
Medium (17 × 24 in) · $150 · 173 ppi
Large (26 × 36 in) · $300 · 115 ppi - Price includes
- Frame and US shipping · 14–21 days · 30-day returns
FAQ
Where can I buy a framed print of Nicolaus Copernicus?
Here. Nicolaus Copernicus is available as a framed print in three sizes: Small (15 × 20 in) for $100, Medium (17 × 24 in) for $150 and Large (26 × 36 in) for $300. Prices include the frame and US shipping; delivery takes 14–21 days, with 30-day returns.
What size works best for Nicolaus Copernicus?
The file is 3,015 × 4,140 px. Medium (17 × 24 in) is the largest size that prints at 150 ppi or more (173 ppi), the sharpest choice for close viewing; Large (26 × 36 in) prints at 115 ppi, fine from a few feet away but softer up close.
Is it legal to print Nicolaus Copernicus?
Yes. Nicolaus Copernicus is in the public domain: its copyright, if it ever had one, expired long ago. In the United States a faithful photograph of a public-domain painting does not create a new copyright (Bridgeman v. Corel, 1999), so the image can be printed and sold freely.
