Axial Commons Image Treasury
Sepia photograph of a large bronze armillary sphere supported by two carved stone dragons in front of a lattice-windowed building.

Jesuit observatory, Beijing, China: bronze astronomical instruments with decorative bronze dragons. Photograph, ca. 1860.

A sepia photograph shows a large bronze armillary sphere, its ringed frame held up by two carved stone dragons with curling bodies and clawed feet. Behind them a tiled roof and lattice-windowed building stand among trees, with a stone pedestal in the foreground.

Artist
Unknown
Date
1860
Medium
Photographic prints
Source
Wellcome Collection
Size
4000 × 2835 px
Download full size
Public domain · Wellcome Collection marks it Public Domain Mark; made by 1860.
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: Public Domain Mark (Wellcome Collection)

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): Wellcome Collection

Español: Esfera armilar de bronce con dragones, observatorio de Pekín, ca. 1860

Una fotografía en sepia muestra una gran esfera armilar de bronce, con su armazón de anillos sostenido por dos dragones de piedra tallada de cuerpos enroscados y garras. Detrás se ven un techo de tejas y un edificio con ventanas de celosía entre árboles.

Português: Esfera armilar de bronze com dragões, observatório de Pequim, c. 1860

Uma fotografia em sépia mostra uma grande esfera armilar de bronze, com seu armação de anéis sustentada por dois dragões de pedra esculpida, de corpos enrolados e garras. Atrás deles há um telhado de telhas e um edifício com janelas de treliça entre árvores.

More from The Zodiac and the Stars

Monochrome mezzotint: a standing man looks through a telescope while a seated man writes beside a globe in an 18th-century observatory.Astronomy: Thomas Phelps (left) and John Bartlett making astronomical observations in the Hand-coloured lithograph of an armoured woman with a Union Jack shield, a seated woman by a Reform banner, fire, a ship, soldiers, and a funeral inset.Astronomy: various apocalyptic scenes, including an earthquake, beggars at a rich man's doColourful allegorical lithograph showing a helmeted woman in armour beside a lion, a crowd before a domed building, ruins, and a bearded man drawing a red curtain.Astronomy: various apocalyptic scenes, including an earthquake, a mob by St Paul's, PrinceOil painting of a white-haired bearded man in dark robes beside a celestial globe, armillary sphere, open book and scientific instruments on a table.A philosopher with a celestial globe. Oil painting, ca. 162-.Hand-coloured stipple engraving of three allegorical women: two seated studying a plan, one standing holding an armillary sphere under a starry sky.Women representing architecture and astronomy. Coloured stipple engraving by J. Chapman, 1Engraving of a cluttered chamber with a hanging crocodile, globes, and a man drawing his sword as two seated men startle.In a chamber containing stuffed animals, a globe and astrological devices Hudibras, about