Verbiest's Prints

In the exhibition we were able to present only a selection from Ferdinand Verbiest’s Xinzhi Yixiangtu. All 105 of the prints are available here. Click on a thumbnail for larger versions, or choose a group from the list of themes such as astronomy and mechanics.

Theme: Creatures [8]

Illustration of the centres of gravity and stability of instruments, people, and creatures The centres of gravity of a sextant of Tycho Brahe The centre of gravity of birds in flight, on ground, and at rest (top and right) and of an astronomical instrument suspended on pulleys (left) Use of a donkey milling-machine to smooth the faces of the rings of an instrument and an illustration of the mounting of the scraping knives (lower left) Use of a donkey milling-machine to polish the faces of the rings of an instrument Illustrations based on the decomposition of forces and the inclined plane (top), and an illustration of the capstan carrying pieces of the instrument platforms up a ramp (bottom) System to move heavy loads up a slope, with a horse and cart in background Illustration of travelers to show that they are guided by the directions indicated by a compass, with the parts of a compass shown