The Selenic Shadowdial - Athanasius Kirchner, 1646. (Zodiac Wall Art)
This print feels like a smart page from an old science book, but it still looks warm on the wall. The spirals, numbers, and little Moon faces pull you in slowly, so it works great in a study, office, or reading corner where you want calm wall art with a bit of depth.
 
About this art print
“The Selenic Shadowdial” is a lunar diagram by Father Athanasius Kirchner, published in 1646. “Selenic” simply means it is about the Moon, and this chart tries to make the Moon’s month readable at a glance. The spirals show how long the Moon stays above the horizon, with its rising and setting worked into the layout.
 
It also connects to the idea of a lunation, which is one full cycle of the Moon’s phases, roughly a month (about twenty-nine and a half days). In early modern Europe, diagrams like this helped people track time, tides, travel, and calendars, even when they did not have modern instruments.
 
The same urge to make the sky “readable” shows up in the 16th century Geocentric Zodiacal Calendar by Francesco Ghisolfi, where the zodiac is arranged in tight circles around the Earth, almost like a working diagram on a study page.
 
Craft & finish
This vintage art print is made on hand-processed paper, highlighted with subtle gold and sealed with beeswax for an authentic parchment feel. Please note that colors can look slightly different from screen to screen.

Find more prints like this in our Vintage Art Prints collection.