Astronomical Images : Rainbow

Nicolas d'Orbelles

Astronomical Images

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Nicolas d'Orbelles or Orbellis (1400-1475) was a French Franciscan and a follower of John Duns Scotus (d. 1308). This is a brief commentary on Aristotelian philosophy in the footsteps of Scotus. Here, the printer, Michael Furter, re-used the woodcuts from the 1494 edition of the same title. There is no explanation of this figure in the accompanying text, but the figure illustrates Aristotle's point that the rainbow always appears opposite the Sun (the viewer is in the middle at b) and is a result of the rays of the Sun being reflected by clouds full of dew. The rainbow forms a semicircle, and according to Aristotle, contains three bands of colour: red, green and violet, with yellow sometimes appearing between red and green. Intriguingly, Aristotle says that these are almost the only colours that painters cannot manufacture because no mixing will produce red, green or purple. (Aristotle, <i>Meteorology</i> III.2,4)</p>