1661 Cellarius Celestial Map of the Northern Constellations: Van Santen Color Heightened with Gold

An exemplar regium of Andreas Cellarius's 1661 celestial map of the northern constellations with astounding Dirk Jansz Van Santen color. This chart stands out as an exemplary piece from a chart series long known for lavish presentation due both to fine engraving and the extraordinary colorwork of Van Santen.

A Closer Look

The map illustrates the northern night sky from a god-like perspective, as it might be seen from a point beyond the celestial sphere. The constellations are thus reversed and superimposed upon an oblique view of the Earth's northeastern hemisphere, which means the constellations are reversed from how they would be seen from Earth and the area so mapped embraces from the north pole to the Cape of Good Hope in the Eastern Hemisphere, and in the Western Hemisphere from the Pole to, roughly, Hudson's Bay.

The focus is, of course, the constellations. Draco wraps around the Northern Pole. The major constellations of the Zodiac are recognizable: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, and Virgo. (The others are hidden behind the Earth.) Other significant constellations include Ursa Major (Big Bear), Ursa Minor (Little Bear), Orion, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Cepheus, and Cetus (Whale), among other more obscure fugues such as the Unicorn (Monoceros) and Giraffe. The Milky Way winds across the sky.

Although less prominent, the terrestrial geography presented is also of interest. Cellarius draws from Jodocus Hondius, Petrus Plancius, and Claes Janszoon Visscher. Gold highlights most of the landmasses, with the expectation being those 'undiscovered' speculative lands, such as the unexplored but presumed parts of America located beyond the Strait of Vries (Kuril Islands).

The color work on this celestial map is beyond spectacular, the finest we have seen anywhere in more than 25 years in the trade. The work is almost certainly that of master colorist (Meester Afsetter) Dirk Jansz Van Santen, the premier colorist of the Dutch Golden Age. Van Santen's work can be identified here through the lavish use of gold highlighting, rich and distinctive color palette, complex graduation of the sky, and extraneous colorization that goes beyond the engraving itself to bring life to the figures represented. (Please see our 'Identifying Van Santen Chart,' image 5.)

The Brilliance of Van Santen: Gold, Color, and Unmatched Craft

The colorwork on this map, based on its date of production, stylistic features, and color use, is with little doubt the work of Dirk Jansz Van Santen (1637/38 - May 23, 1708).

No colorist of the Dutch Golden Age matched Van Santen's flair, boldness, and artistic sophistication. His maps are unmistakable: lavishly gilded, vividly colored, and alive with dynamic contrasts - incomparable for sheer visual impact, rarity, and sophistication.

Van Santen's liberal use of gold highlighting stands out. Where contemporaneous colorists reserved expensive gilding for minor flourishes, he applied it throughout: dotting city names, outlining frontiers, embellishing legends, and even weaving it into the texture of vignettes. His gold accents were frequently set against costly pigments like ultramarine and carmine, creating a luxurious interplay of color and light.

Van Santen employed a unique color palette of personally compounded pigments, crafting hues that were unique in tone and depth. His ability to layer and juxtapose color gave his works an almost impressionistic feel far ahead of their time. Spaces that would have remained blank or subdued in other hands were transformed: skies glowed in soft gradients from purple to blue to pink to yellow; seas shimmered; human and animal figures were brought to life with subtle tonal shifts.

Unlike his contemporaries, Van Santen avoided monotony at all costs. He turned every inch of the map into an opportunity for artistic expression. Even the framing borders - often overlooked - became showcases of tuned chromatics.Today, scholars Fontaine Verwey, W. K Gnirrep, and Truusje Goedings have created catalogs of Van Santen's works in major institutions. From time to time, rare maps with Van Santen color appear on the market, often quadrupling or more a map's value and marking it as an exemplar.

Publication History and Census

This engraving was executed, possibly by Johannes van Loon, for Jan Jansson, who in 1660 first published Andreas Cellarius' Harmonia Macrocosmica. Jansson produced two editions in 1660 and 1661; these are distinguishable by the plate numbers engraved for the 1661 edition - as in the present example, indicating the 1661 second state. Amsterdam publishers Gerard Valk and Pieter Schenk later acquired the plates and republished Cellarius' work in 1708, adding their own imprint and privilege. Separate examples of Cellarius' charts appear on the market from time to time. This map is well represented in intuitions, often in the original atlas, and comes to market from time to time, but an example with Van Santen color of this caliber represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If Cellarius's northern hemisphere chart is on your radar as a collector, this is, without a doubt, the one you want - likely the finest example in existence.