Maria Clara Eimmart

Drawing of the Moon by Maria Clara Eimmart
Credit: Museo della Specola, Bologna

Maria Clara Eimmart was born in May 1676 in Nuremberg, Germany. In addition to being an astronomer, Maria was an artist and created some brilliant illustrations of astronomical objects and phenomena, particularly of the Moon. Maria's father, Georg Christoph Eimmart, was a painter, engraver, and amateur astronomer and spent a majority of his earnings on astronomical instruments and on the construction of a private observatory. Maria became her father's apprentice, learning a variety of subjects from him, including French, Latin, mathematics, astronomy, drawing, and engraving. Between 1693 and 1698, Maria produced over 350 drawings of the Moon which she made through observations by telescope.

Illustration of the Moon by Maria Clara Eimmart
Credit: Wikimedia Commons