The pastels of John Russell

[SwiMatt]

I tried searching the forum, but nobody posted about this, so I thought I'd share! 

John Russell was a portrait artist towards the end of the XVIII century, and in 1790 became a Painter to George III. Like the king, he was an avid astronomer and left us in particular these two amazing representations of the Moon. The first is a highly detailed pastel drawing of the Waxing Gibbous, more than 1.5 meters wide. When I saw it, I couldn't believe this is a pastel from 1797!

The second incredible representation of the Moon that he left us with is the Selenographia, a globe made in papier mache, covered with plaster, engraved and hand-coloured. His detailed map of the Moon took 30 years to perfect, using a telescope that he bought from Herschel (who had sitted for a portrait). This is such incredible work.

There are other astronomical works of his that deserve to be seen, but they are hard to find online. 

[josefk]

Both lovely @SwiMatt but that globe is particularly fabulous. There is a real art and science to globe making beyond the obvious cartography we see on the surface. 
I may have a look into the Herschel connection but I guess the scope Russell bought from would have been something like a 6” reflector. 

[josefk]

Hope you don’t mind the extra post/pics…

 

John Russell spent 40-years sketching, measuring and ultimately mapping the moon. He really took mapping quality forward in a notable way  

The page above about him is from “Mapping and Naming the Moon” by Ewan Whitaker. A great book. 

[SwiMatt]

@josefk Thanks for the additional post! I clearly don't mind. I encountered this material while studying one of my other hobbies (drawing, in particular pastel). 40 years spent sketching and measuring is something that I cannot fathom - I'm not 40 yet! 

1 hour ago, josefk said:

Both lovely @SwiMatt but that globe is particularly fabulous. There is a real art and science to globe making beyond the obvious cartography we see on the surface. 
I may have a look into the Herschel connection but I guess the scope Russell bought from would have been something like a 6” reflector. 

This got me to think of what seems obvious: you are right, there is a science to globe making, especially considering that the Moon always shows the same face. Your measurements need to take into account the fact that some features are curved and inclined from your perspective. Quite a remarkable work!

From what I understand, there are several Selenographia globes in existence, so these were produced and sold to different people. Sotheby's had one in catalogue a decade ago, and a couple of museums in the UK have it in catalogue as well. 

For the Herschel connection, I only managed to track down the portrait that Russel did of Herschel. None of the sources I found mention anything about what telescope that was, but I'd love to hear more if you can find something! 

[josefk]

Nice links @SwiMatt

i think the large pastel and one of his globes are at the Science museum in Oxford - the original Ashmolean building. 

…apparently even making a sphere of the globe to the required accuracy to take the gores of the map properly is very difficult (more like was very difficult pre machine age)…

And if you didn’t know already, Herschel had a reputation for observing AND scope making at the highest level. Scope making was a business but he also wanted other astronomers to use them because some of his discoveries were so “out there” other astronomers couldn’t repeat them in their inferior scopes and so he wasn’t always believed. 

 

 

[SwiMatt]

4 minutes ago, josefk said:

…apparently even making a sphere of the globe to the required accuracy to take the gores of the map properly is very difficult (more like was very difficult pre machine age)…

Quite mindblowing... and on Selenographia you can definitely recognize some complex features, testament to how well and precisely it is drawn. 

4 minutes ago, josefk said:

And if you didn’t know already, Herschel had a reputation for observing AND scope making at the highest level. Scope making was a business but he also wanted other astronomers to use them because some of his discoveries were so “out there” other astronomers couldn’t repeat them in their inferior scopes and so he wasn’t always believed. 

I knew he made his own instruments, did not know how much better than anyone else's they were.

What gets to me the most is that these observations and discoveries were made from what is today the middle of London (George III observed the 1769 transit of Venus from his observatory in Richmond) or the middle of Paris (Messier)... those are all Bortle 8-9 skies today! And the telescopes back then could not hold a candle to the best telescopes we have available in our time! It attests to how much we ruined our environment in a little more than 200 years. Quite sad, really. 

[michael8554]

I have a print of "Portrait of the Moon.  Pastel drawing by John Russell 1795", hanging in our house.

Amazing detail.

Gift from our daughter, who was a curator at The History of Science Museum in Oxford.

Michael

[SwiMatt]

13 minutes ago, michael8554 said:

I have a print of "Portrait of the Moon.  Pastel drawing by John Russell 1795", hanging in our house.

Amazing detail.

Gift from our daughter, who was a curator at The History of Science Museum in Oxford.

Michael

Beautiful gift!