Image and text from page 163 of L'atmosphère: météorologie populaire, by Camille Flammarion, 1888.

The Flammarion Woodcut is an enigmatic woodcut by an unknown artist. It is referred to as the Flammarion Woodcut because its first documented appearance is in page 163 of Camille Flammarion's L'atmosphère: météorologie populaire (Paris, 1888), a work on meteorology for a general audience. The woodcut depicts a man peering through the Earth's atmosphere as if it were a curtain to look at the inner workings of the universe. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1162x973, 295 KB) There is also this alternate version of the same picture (with the original caption). ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1162x973, 295 KB) There is also this alternate version of the same picture (with the original caption). ... 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... Four horsemen of the Apocalypse by Albrecht Dürer. ... Camille Flammarion (February 26, 1842 – June 3, 1925) was a French astronomer. ... The Eiffel Tower, the international symbol of the city, with the skyscrapers of La Défense business district 3 miles behind. ... 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... Satellite image of Hurricane Hugo with a polar low visible at the top of the image. ... Layers of Atmosphere (NOAA) Earths atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earths gravity. ... The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. ...

Universum - C. Flammarion, Woodcut, Paris 1988, Coloration : Heikenwaelder Hugo, Wien 1998

The caption in Flammarion's book translates as "A missionary of the Middle Ages tells that he had found the point where the sky and the Earth touched..." The image accompanies a text which reads, in part "What, then, is this blue sky, which certainly does exist, and which veils from us the stars during the day?" The woodcut is often described as being medieval due to its fanciful vision of the world and what some people take to be a depiction of a flat Earth, but it almost certainly was produced later, though no exact date can be given. It has been claimed that Flammarion himself commissioned the woodcut, but this has not been conclusively ascertained. Image File history File linksMetadata Universum. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Universum. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... A typical daytime sky. ... The notion of a flat Earth refers to the idea that the inhabited surface of Earth is flat, rather than curved (see Spherical Earth). ...

The image is perhaps best known as the cover illustration for Daniel J. Boorstin's The Discoverers (1983), a best-selling account of the history of science. The woodcut is also the inspiration for the Oulipo play "Triton, Moon of Neptune," by playwright Robert Elstein. Daniel J. Boorstin. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Oulipo stands for Ouvroir de littérature potentielle, which translates roughly as workshop of potential literature. It is a loose gathering of French-speaking writers and mathematicians, and seeks to create works using constrained writing techniques. ... A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is someone who writes dramatic literature or drama. ...

See also: Flat earth

The notion of a flat Earth refers to the idea that the inhabited surface of Earth is flat, rather than curved (see Spherical Earth). ...

External links

• On the origin of the Flammarion woodcut