Andreas Cellarius, German (c. 1596 – 1665), “Harmonia macrocosmica.” Amsterdam, Jan Janszoon, 1661, book; paper and printing ink bound in leather over boards, with hand-colored engraved plates, 20.8 x 13.7 x 2.8” (courtesy of Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology, Kansas City, MO)
“Mapping the Heavens” exhibit of alluring rare books and instruments demonstrates the benefits of sharing information across religious divides
As exhibits go, it’s fairly small. But “Mapping the Heavens: Art, Astronomy and Exchange between the Islamic Lands and Europe” tackles some of the biggest questions faced by early scientists attempting to chart the cosmos.
Kimberly Masteller, who curated the exhibition at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, says they were “on a quest to find themselves and their place in the world.”
It’s an eye-opener in several ways. The exhibition not only packs a strong visual punch, but it also paints a portrait of Muslims, Christians and Jews sharing information freely (for a while, at least), in mutual pursuit of knowledge.
During the early Middle Ages (500 to 1200 CE) European scientists studying the skies were outpaced by their Islamic counterparts. Spain, which remained under Muslim rule until it was “recaptured” by Christian forces, was a hotbed of celestial exploration. Muslim texts that detailed methods for charting the moon and stars were translated into Spanish and other languages. Soon, the advent of the printing press helped disseminate them even more widely.
Nicolaus Copernicus, the 15th-century Polish astronomer, was one of the European scientists who utilized research from the Islamic world. Some of his writings are displayed in “Mapping the Heavens.”
The exhibition began, Masteller says, with a handful of thematically linked artworks in the Nelson-Atkins’ collection, including a Persian drawing of “Capricornus, the Kid” from the mid-1400s. Knowing she’d need considerably more to work with, she contacted prominent institutions like the Adler Planetarium in Chicago and Kansas City’s Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology.
“I asked for a Copernicus book, and they said, ‘which one?’” she laughs. Jason Dean, vice president for collections and public services at the Linda Hall Library, notes it’s been some 20 years since the library joined in a collaborative exhibition like this. But he’s glad they are now, and glad to contribute 14 pieces, including a volume of Copernicus that dates to 1543. After all, history like this is squarely in the library’s wheelhouse.
Finch Collins, the Linda Hall Library’s assistant curator of rare books, notes that some of them are also surprisingly attractive. “So often with the materials that we have, it’s easy to say, ‘oh, it’s just black text, white paper, it’s just a book,’” Collins says. “And part of what we hope to show in this exhibition is that even the books that are black text on white paper are beautiful objects.”
Engravings and illustrations practically leap off the page with creativity and imagination, like the frontispiece to Johannes Hevelius’ “Prodromus astronomiae” (1690), which playfully places scholars from different centuries at the same table.
In addition to printed materials, watercolors and paintings, “Mapping the Heavens” spotlights something more practical — the instruments used by medieval scientists to gather data for their forays into astronomy, timekeeping and navigation. Chief among them was the astrolabe, a metal disc with cutouts and perforations, which allowed the user to identify stars or planets and calculate latitude and altitude. Think of it as a precursor to the sextant or an early (and analog) version of GPS.
The Adler Planetarium loaned a stunning 13th-century astrolabe to the exhibition. The ornate brass oval can’t be handled, of course, but the museum has fashioned a hands-on replica to demonstrate how the devices worked, in ways that look surprisingly familiar.
“Science is iterative and it is investigative,” Dean says. “It’s full of old moments that lead up to new moments, some of which push the old ones aside. There’s probably a lot of stuff we take for granted now, that 300 years in the future people will say, ‘those fools,’ and laugh.”
“Mapping the Heavens,” which will run through Jan. 11, 2026, is part of the World Religions Initiative at The Nelson-Atkins Museum. Masteller believes it’s one of the more hopeful examples of people coming together across religious divides. “It wasn’t a one-way street,” she maintains. “It really was a dialogue.”
Finch Collins agrees, saying, “Science can provide a common ground and a common language for people that might not otherwise get along. It’s not that they solved any political problems, but definitely it was like . . . if we can talk about these things, we can talk about other things as well.”
Masteller is especially excited about an upcoming event that will address some of the same themes in a very different way. On May 8, filmmaker Dario Robleto will screen and discuss “Ancient Beacons Long for Notice” in the museum’s Atkins Auditorium. It’s the final part of his trilogy about the Golden Record, which was placed on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. Carl Sagan, among others, helped program the gold disc with sounds and images chosen to “represent” Earth and its people. Masteller believes Robleto’s documentary series asks the same basic question that those who first sought to map the heavens were asking. “What does it mean to be human?”
“Mapping the Heavens: Art, Astronomy and Exchange between the Islamic Lands and Europe” continues at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak St., through Jan. 11, 2026. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday through Monday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday. For more information, 816.751.1278 or www.nelson-atkins.org.
