 employed various engravers to work on the plates of the atlas, but only two have signed their work: Frederik Hendrik van den Hove, author of the frontispiece, and Johannes van Loon, who engraved ten charts. All of the designs of the classical constellations were taken from the ones created by Jan Pieterszoon Saenredam. The current chart, which appears as Plate 4 in the atlas, is unsigned.



, a pastor in Neuhausen from 1596 to 1599, who later moved to Heidelberg. The young Andreas was educated at the Sapierzkolleg in Heidelberg, and enrolled as a student at the University of Heidelberg in 1614. From 1625, the same year in which he married Catharina Eltmans, he was a schoolmaster in Amsterdam and then in the Hague. In 1637, he became headmaster of the Latin School in Hoorn. Once there, he settled down to writing. 

His earliest known work, in 1645, was on military architecture. Written in German, it was published in Amsterdam by 

, who would later include Cellarius’ ‘Harmonia Macrocosmica’, as the last volume of his ‘

 Maior’, in 1660. However, before then, in 1659 Cellarius’s description of Poland was published, suggesting that he may have travelled extensively through that country.

Cellarius had three sons, Andreas (1626), Johannes (1631), and Joris (1635), and a daughter, Catharina (1628). He died in February or March of 1665, in the same year as his eldest son.

' map of the Copernican solar system was arguably the most powerful and unambiguous visual statement of a heliocentric Solar System yet produced. The engraving’s striking design, which emphasizes the rays of the centrally positioned sun emanating to the edges of the Solar System, makes its point with dramatic force.

Prominence is also given to Jupiter’s four moons, whose discovery by Galileo Galilei in 1610 upended the principle of Aristotelian cosmology, which held that all heavenly bodies should circle the Earth. Seated at the lower right, surrounded by astronomical instruments and books, is Nicolaus Copernicus, while the figure at the bottom left is perhaps Aristarchus of Samos (f. 250 BCE), who is believed to have been the first to propose a heliocentric Solar System. 

 (c. 1596–1665) was a Dutch-German cartographer and cosmographer best known for his 1660 ‘Harmonia Macrocosmica’, a major star atlas. The young Cellarius attended the University of Heidelberg in 1614 and later worked as a schoolmaster in Amsterdam and then in the Hague, eventually settling in Hoorn in 1637 to become headmaster of the Latin School. 

His earliest known work, in 1645, was on military architecture. Written in German, it was published in Amsterdam by 

. In 1659, Cellarius published his first cartographic work, a description of Poland, whose detail suggests that he may have travelled extensively through that country. The following year in 1660, Janssonius published Cellarius’ ‘Harmonia Macrocosmica’ and was so impressed with the work that he included it as the last volume of his own ‘

 Maior’, published the same year. 

The ‘Harmonia Macrocosmica’ was the only celestial atlas published during the Golden Age of Dutch cartography, and probably the finest celestial atlas ever realized. Its twenty-one sumptuous Baroque-style charts majestically represent the three competing astronomical models of the day: the Ptolemaic, Tychonic, and the Copernican.

’ ‘Harmonia Macrocosmica’ (1660) was the only celestial atlas published during the Golden Age of Dutch cartography, and probably the finest celestial atlas ever realized. This is one of twenty-one sumptuous Baroque-style charts that majestically represent the three competing astronomical models of the day: the Ptolemaic, Tychonic, and the Copernican.

More than a century after Nicolaus Copernicus published ‘De Revolutionibus’ in 1543, a heliocentric theory of the cosmos, his model was still controversial. Cellarius’ depiction of all of the planets circling the Sun, including the Earth, boldly expounds Copernicus’s theory. Lunar bodies are also represented correctly; the Moon appears as a satellite of the Earth, and Jupiter is shown with its four moons. The 

 ring, which in the past had represented the ecliptic of the sun, is pictured here as the outermost ring of the Cosmos.

More than a century after Nicolaus Copernicus published ‘De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium’ in 1543, a heliocentric theory of the cosmos, in which the earth orbited the Sun, was still controversial. So 

’ depiction of all of the planets circling the Sun, including the earth, is a very bold one. To make his point even clearer, the Moon appears as a satellite of the Earth, and Jupiter is shown with its four moons. The 

 ring, which used to represent the ecliptic of the Sun, is now just the outermost ring of the Cosmos.

’ spectacularly bold representation of the controversial theory of Nicolas Copernicus’s heliocentric, or Sun-centred Cosmos

Double-page engraved copperplate celestial chart, with contemporary hand-colour in full.

Cellarius' Map of the Copernican Theory of the Cosmos