Gemini Constellation Linocut, Constellations of the Zodiac Lino Block Print Collection - Silver on Blue, Gemini the Twins, Castor & Pollux

The silver stars and silhouette of Gemini the Twins are illustrated in this handmade block print. It was one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century AD astronomer Ptolemy and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today. Gemini is associated with the twins Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology, and Castor and Pollux with lyre, arrow and club are shown in this print. The brightest stars in Gemini are Castor and Pollux. Parts of the constellations of Canis Minor, Monoceros, Orion and Auriga and the dashed line of the ecliptic are also shown. If you imagined all celestial bodies we see in the night sky as mapped onto a sphere (the Celestial Sphere) around our Earth, the ecliptic would be the line you would draw to map the apparent path of the Sun through the various constellations. The word Gemini and symbol ♊ appear at the top of the image. The lines linking the constellation appear in silver-on-blue or blue-on-silver as appropriate. There are a few bright galaxies or star clusters shown as circles. I printed an edition of eight small prints, 7 inches by 7.5 inches (17.8 cm by 19 cm) on lovely, deep blue, handmade, Japanese kozo (or mulberry) paper with silk fibres.