Konrad Westermayr

Portrait of Copernicus

copperplate engraving

ca 1780

A half-length-figure portrait of Copernicus turning three quarters to the right surrounded by an oval border. In his left hand the astronomer is holding an object symbolising the heliocentric system. The engraving was made by Conrad Westermayer towards the end of the 18th c., most probably in the 1780’s. The engraver based this work on Jacob van Meurs' print made for Pierre Gassedi's Nicolai Copernici vita from the mid-17th c. in which Copernicus is wearing a large turned down collar. Its lithograph version was printed opposite the title page of the Polish edition of Camille Flammarion's Life of Nicolaus Copernicus. 1473-1873, Warsaw 1873.

Copernican Library in Toruń