Sherlock Holmes famously said to Dr Watson that he didn’t know the earth went round the sun. From time to time in the canon of stories, Holmes's ignorance of astronomy is refuted. There was a clever use of this in the BBC’s Sherlock where the outcome of a case, as well as somebody’s life, depended upon Holmes deciphering a painting like a connoisseur. After scanning the signature, the facture and other parts of the canvas, it suddenly hit the detective that a series of paint splotches were arrayed in the shape of an astronomical cluster. The fraudster-artist having a penchant for astronomy, had painted a supernova or an exploding star in the sky; but the snag was it was only visible in 1858, over a hundred years after the work was supposedly executed. A stellar performance in more ways than one.
Now, this blend of astrophysics and art history is no longer in the realm of fiction. An astrophysicist and his team say that they can use their expertise to date Monet’s paintings to the exact minute. Read all about it in the Independent.
The link between painting and celestial bodies is fascinating. My favourite example is William Dyce’s Pegwell Bay, Kent, A Recollection of October 5th, 1858. If you look hard you will see the trail of a comet, Donati’s Comet, observed on June 2nd of the same year by an Italian astronomer. Maybe our astrophysicist friends can detect the exact minute Dyce painted this?
I wonder if the producers of Sherlock had Donati’s comet in mind when they dreamt up their version. Both comets, one fictitious of course, appeared in 1858.
David:
I've looked hard but still need help.
Frank
Posted by: Francis DeStefano | 01/30/2014 at 03:00 PM
Hi Frank. It's a bit difficult to see- but look at top centre where there's a white streak arcing down. Try this reproduction which is darker. http://www.english.uga.edu/nhilton/4890/darwin/dyce.jpg
Posted by: David Packwood | 01/30/2014 at 07:23 PM