99
A crater on Mars was named after Secchi in his honor in 1973.
24
In fact, Secchi
and his assistants drew some of the first color illustrations of Mars and were the first
to describe and draw alleged “channels” on the Martian surface, which he called
canali, to describe those long thin dark lines crisscrossing the planet’s northern
hemisphere.
25
Secchi’s published astronomical and spectroscopic drawings and plates already
show that Secchi was conversant in most of the technical printing repertoire that the
nineteenth century had to offer; and he selected the most appropriate one for each
subject in his amply illustrated books. In fact, his monograph of the Sun is one of
the most beautiful books (and a rare collector’s item) in the history of nineteenthcentury science, full of high-class illustrations and plates.
For the German translation of Secchi’s standard work on spectroscopy, which
appeared in 1872, the editor decided to make Rutherfurd’s spectrum map generally
available in a lithographed rendition of the photograph, measuring 210 cm in length
on a huge fold-out plate (Fig. 5.11).
26
When Secchi observed a bolide on Nov. 14, 1868, he observed that the body was
brighter than Venus and the two tails changed color in the course of combustion.
Secchi’s pointillistic painting technique used in his quick depiction of his observation does not presume a specific drawing talent. The image is available online for
inspection in a low-resolution color scan at https://fineartamerica.com/featured/
bolide- observed- by- padre- secchi- mary- evans- picture- library.html.
The same pointillistic technique was also used in Secchi’s painting of a solar
sunspot in 1873, cf. https://fineartamerica.com/featured/secchis- sunspotobservation- 1873- detlev- van- ravenswaay.html.
24 See https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5402
25 See Hentschel 2014: 297–309, Chinnici 2019: 69–72, and Barbara Becker in https://faculty.
humanities.uci.edu/bjbecker/ExploringtheCosmos/lecture19.html
26 See Schellen’s German edition of Secchi 1870c: 231–233 & pl. VI or Hentschel 2002a: 206–207.
Fig. 5.11 Two segments of Rutherfurd’s photograph of the solar spectrum, c. 1864. Lithographic
reproduction by Albert Schütze. From Secchi 1870c: foldout pl. VI
5 Angelo Secchi, Stellar Spectroscopy, Solar Physics, and Visual Science Culture
A crater on Mars was named after Secchi in his honor in 1973.
24
In fact, Secchi
and his assistants drew some of the first color illustrations of Mars and were the first
to describe and draw alleged “channels” on the Martian surface, which he called
canali, to describe those long thin dark lines crisscrossing the planet’s northern
hemisphere.
25
Secchi’s published astronomical and spectroscopic drawings and plates already
show that Secchi was conversant in most of the technical printing repertoire that the
nineteenth century had to offer; and he selected the most appropriate one for each
subject in his amply illustrated books. In fact, his monograph of the Sun is one of
the most beautiful books (and a rare collector’s item) in the history of nineteenthcentury science, full of high-class illustrations and plates.
For the German translation of Secchi’s standard work on spectroscopy, which
appeared in 1872, the editor decided to make Rutherfurd’s spectrum map generally
available in a lithographed rendition of the photograph, measuring 210 cm in length
on a huge fold-out plate (Fig. 5.11).
26
When Secchi observed a bolide on Nov. 14, 1868, he observed that the body was
brighter than Venus and the two tails changed color in the course of combustion.
Secchi’s pointillistic painting technique used in his quick depiction of his observation does not presume a specific drawing talent. The image is available online for
inspection in a low-resolution color scan at https://fineartamerica.com/featured/
bolide- observed- by- padre- secchi- mary- evans- picture- library.html.
The same pointillistic technique was also used in Secchi’s painting of a solar
sunspot in 1873, cf. https://fineartamerica.com/featured/secchis- sunspotobservation- 1873- detlev- van- ravenswaay.html.
24 See https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5402
25 See Hentschel 2014: 297–309, Chinnici 2019: 69–72, and Barbara Becker in https://faculty.
humanities.uci.edu/bjbecker/ExploringtheCosmos/lecture19.html
26 See Schellen’s German edition of Secchi 1870c: 231–233 & pl. VI or Hentschel 2002a: 206–207.
Fig. 5.11 Two segments of Rutherfurd’s photograph of the solar spectrum, c. 1864. Lithographic
reproduction by Albert Schütze. From Secchi 1870c: foldout pl. VI
5 Angelo Secchi, Stellar Spectroscopy, Solar Physics, and Visual Science Culture