Celestial Cosmos Derived From Flammarion Engraving Tasse

This is an original graphic derived from an antique Victorian era ca. 1888 engraving in a publication by the French astronomer and writer Camille Flammarion. The illustration depicts a man, dressed as a pilgrim in a long robe, who has reached a point where the flat Earth meets the firmament. The pilgrim kneels down and passes his head and shoulders through an opening in the firmament, which is depicted as covered on the inside by the stars, sun, and moon. Behind the sky, the pilgrim finds a marvelous realm of circling clouds, fires and suns. One of the elements of the cosmic machinery resembles traditional pictorial representations of the "wheel in the middle of a wheel" described in the visions of the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel. It has been widely used as a metaphorical illustration of either the scientific or the mystical quests for knowledge. More recently, it has also been used as to represent a psychedelic experience.