Perseus and Caput Medusae
Sidney Hall, 1825
$150
Print check at 18 x 12 in: 198 dpi, good. Trimmed 4.8% to the shape of the print.
Shipping to a US address: $25.90 for this piece, from the print room in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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Another card from Sidney Hall's Urania's Mirror (1825), giving the hero Perseus his own plate — sword raised, winged sandals on his heels, gripping the severed head of the gorgon Medusa by its snake-hair. Like every card in the set, Perseus is pierced with pinholes at each star's true celestial position, meant to be held to a candle so the constellation glows exactly as it appears overhead; the labeled stars along his armor and Medusa's face (Algol, the 'demon star,' marks her eye) are real catalogued positions, not decoration. What to notice: Algol is one of the sky's most famous variable stars, its brightness visibly dimming every few days as an orbiting companion star partially eclipses it — ancient skywatchers who couldn't explain the flickering placed it, fittingly, in a monster's severed head.
- Maker
- Sidney Hall
- Date
- 1825
- Medium of the original
- Plate
- Original held by
- Wikimedia Commons
- Credit
- Wikimedia Commons
- Rights
- Public domain, verified
- Catalogue number
- PA-00262
| Picture | 18 x 12 in |
|---|---|
| Outside size | 19.6 x 13.6 in |
| Depth | 0.9 in (22 mm) |
| Weight | [[REAL PROOF NEEDED: shipped weight per size and frame]] |
| Hanging | [[REAL PROOF NEEDED: hanging hardware Prodigi fits to this frame]] |
| Material | Enhanced matte art paper, 200 gsm; acrylic glazing |
| Made in | Charlotte, North Carolina, by Prodigi |
Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.
| Size | dpi | Grade | How it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 x 8 in | 297 | Excellent | Trimmed 4.8% |
| 16 x 12 in | 208 | Excellent | Trimmed 6.7% |
| 18 x 12 in | 198 | Good | Trimmed 4.8% |
| Size | Why |
|---|---|
| 10 x 8 in | Wrong shape: a 12% crop |
| 14 x 11 in | Wrong shape: a 11% crop |
| 20 x 16 in | Wrong shape: a 12% crop |
| 24 x 16 in | 148 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 24 x 18 in | 138 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 30 x 20 in | 119 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 30 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 12% crop |
| 36 x 24 in | 99 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 40 x 30 in | 83 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 48 x 36 in | 69 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 60 x 40 in | 59 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
- Scanned
- 2026-10-07
- Master file
- 3,571 x 2,500 px, srgb
- Tone
- Darks 119, lights 248 of 255; 0% clipped light, 0% clipped dark
- Colour
- 0% vivid
- Sharpness
- 1.31
- Notes
- Neutrals lean warm (yellow): the paper and varnish of the original, kept as scanned
Shipping for this piece to a US address is $25.90, the print room’s own rate, charged per piece. Checkout shows the total before you pay.
Every piece is printed after you order it, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and ships from there. For now we ship to US addresses only.
A piece that arrives damaged, misprinted or in the wrong size is replaced at our cost. The details: shipping and returns and replacements.
Cabinet of Curiosities
The old world’s book of wonders, for your wall.
All 69 pieces from Cabinet of Curiosities
