Doctoral Candidate Challenger Conducts Dissertation Research in Germany This Summer

With the support of both the Friends of Art History Research Grant and the Office of Graduate Studies Research Grant, doctoral candidate Alex Challenger will travel in July to Wolfenbüttel, Germany to research the publications of the astronomer/printer Peter Apian and Georg Hartmann at the Herzog August Bibliothek. Challenger is exploring the  influence of printers and artists on astronomical illustrations in the early sixteenth century. Her dissertation, “Measuring the Heavens: Printed Instruments, Illustrations and the Construction of Experimental Science” is in progress under the direction of Professor Stephanie Leitch.  Alex is excited about the opportunities provided by these department and university grants:

I am extremely fortunate to be able to study these documents at the HAB. Many of these volumes contain not just images but paper machines with moving parts. It will be exciting to be able to handle these prints and better understand the process by which the Renaissance viewer came to understand the disciplines of astronomy and cosmography.