The Sky as Metaphor in an Age of Science

Gary N. Wells

Ithaca College

In this paper nineteenth century images of the sky as both representation and metaphor will be examined. I suggest that even in a century that embraced science as the means to explain nature, artists continued to express the view that nature could be seen as metaphor or symbol of human experience. This view permeated astronomical and celestial imagery throughout the nineteenth century, not only in art but even in images that functioned as "illustrations" of scientific ideas. I will use examples from European and American sources to demonstrate the range of social, political, cultural and emotional meaning attached to and reflected in images of the sky in the nineteenth century.