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187
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François-André VINCENT (1746-1816), Entourage de
Presumed po…
See original version (French)
187
-
François-André VINCENT (1746-1816), Entourage de
Presumed po…
See original version (French)
Estimate €7,000 - €9,000
Voluntary lot
Description
François-André VINCENT (1746-1816), Entourage de
Presumed portrait of Charles Messier (1730-1817), astronomer to the king
Oil on canvas
61 x 50 cm (74 x 61 cm with frame)
Original canvas and stretcher
Gilded wood frame decorated with pearls
Charles Messier was born in Badonviller, Lorraine, on 26 June 1730 and died in Paris on 12 April 1817. One of the most renowned French astronomers of the second half of the 18th century, he owes his fame mainly to his observations of comets and the catalogue of celestial objects that now bears his name.
Arriving in Paris in the 1750s, he entered the service of the astronomer Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, with whom he trained in the methods of astronomical observation. Soon noticed for the precision and consistency of his work, Messier specialised in comet research, a field in which he acquired a European reputation. His numerous discoveries earned him the nickname "the ferret of comets", which Louis XV is said to have given him.
In order to avoid any confusion between comets and certain fixed nebular apparitions observed in the sky, Messier undertook to draw up a systematic inventory of these celestial objects. This work led to the publication of the famous Messier Catalogue, drawn up between 1764 and 1781, which lists the star clusters, nebulae and galaxies visible from the northern hemisphere. Still in use today, this catalogue is one of the benchmark instruments of observational astronomy.
Inducted into the Académie Royale des Sciences in 1770, Messier was also appointed Astronomer to the Navy under the reign of Louis XVI, a sign of the institutional recognition that astronomical sciences enjoyed at the time among learned circles and the monarchy.
See original version (French)
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Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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