Solis Prints
Art prints from over 2,700 artists
From Monet to Kusama, printed and framed to order in the UK. Prints from £14.
Print · Framed · Canvas
Print · Framed
Print · Framed
Print · Framed · Canvas
Print · Framed · Canvas
Print · Framed
Print · Framed
Print · Framed
Print · Framed
Print · Framed
Print · Framed
Old Masters
Religious art for the home
Raphael, Fra Angelico, Caravaggio and more, printed and framed to order in the UK.
On this wall
Japanese art
Woodblock prints and ink paintings
Hasui, Hiroshige, Ohara Koson and Sesshu, printed and framed to order in the UK.
On this wall
-
Swallows With Cherry BlossomOhara KosonFrom £28.00
-
Autumn at Funatsu, Near Lake KawaguchiHasui KawaseFrom £28.00
-
Haboku sansuiSesshu ToyoFrom £28.00
-
White Rain, ShonoUtagawa HiroshigeFrom £28.00
-
Minimalist Japanese Frog Print – Meika Gafu Sumi-eMatsumoto HojiFrom £28.00
-
Bullfinch On Flowering PlumOhara KosonFrom £28.00
New destinations added regularly
Posters from the places you love
Over 2,700 curated artists
Browse all artists
Curated by Artists
Museum Quality Prints
Crafted to Last
Designed for Interiors
Style It Your Way
Popular prints available framed or on canvas
![Green and Maroon - Mark Rothko - Poster [HQ 3c667201b8de]](http://www.solisprints.co.uk/cdn/shop/files/Rothko-Poster-none-fe6a126ae048.jpg?v=1791244683&width=3840)
Timeless Art For Beautifully Designed Homes
Why Choose Us ?
What customers say
Over 5000
Happy Art Lovers
From Our Journal
Uranometria: The Atlas That Named the Stars
Johann Bayer published his celestial atlas, Uranometria, in Augsburg in 1603. The volume contained detailed maps of constellations alongside an engraved title page. This illustration combined classical myth, geometry, and municipal iconography into a non-controversial emblem of early seventeenth-century astronomical study. The Publication of Bayer's Celestial Maps In 1603, Johann Bayer published Uranometria in the German city of Augsburg. Dedicated to Augsburg itself, the publication features a view of the city at the base of its engraved title page. Uranometria was created as a collection of celestial charts mapping the constellations. Positioned directly beneath the primary figures on the title page rests the figure of Capricorn. This image was taken directly from one of the internal constellation plates. Its presence on the architectural frame was a direct visual reminder that the volume was fundamentally a catalogue of star maps. During the late Renaissance, engraved title pages became a standard method for introducing printed books. Authors and printers used these visual gateways to suggest the subject matter of a treatise through allegorical figures. Scientific publications adopted this convention across multiple disciplines. Astronomical and optical treatises conformed to an unwritten code of neutrality until approximately 1620. They avoided the fierce intellectual controversies of the era. Bayer’s Uranometria fits this peaceful tradition, presenting traditional mythological imagery without engaging in contemporary disputes regarding heliocentric or geocentric arrangements of the universe. Mythological Personifications of the Sky The upper portion of the title page presents three allegorical personifications representing astronomical subjects. On the left reclines Apollo, representing the sun, identified by his lyre and solar glory. On the right sits a composite female figure combining attributes of Artemis and Astraea. She carries the bow and quiver of Artemis, accompanied by a hound of Actaeon and a moon upon her forehead. She also wears a cloak covered in stars, a garment characteristic of Astraea, the goddess who departed the earth at the close of the Golden Age to become the constellation Virgo. Between Apollo and the Artemis figure sits Cybele, the earth goddess. Cybele occupies the exact centre of the composition, drawn in a chariot pulled by two lions. Together, these mythological figures represent the sun, moon, earth, and stars. Because these emblems were firmly established in classical tradition, their symbolic meaning was easy for readers to interpret. The three figures recline above the text panel without dramatic tension. Their balanced arrangement reinforces the non-polemical tone of the atlas, providing a decorative tribute to astronomical science rather than a partisan statement. Constellation- Aquila, Eagle and Child. (IA dr constellation-aquila-eagle-and-child-12181018). Public domain; source: Wikimedia Commons. Atlas, Hercules, and the Greek Inscription Two large flanking figures frame the central text of the title page. On the left stands Atlas, set against a pillar transformed into a mountain cave. The legend carved onto the plinth beneath his feet identifies Atlas as the first teacher of astronomy. On the right stands Hercules in a contrapposto posture. The legend on his plinth labels him as the first pupil of astronomy. This pairing refers to the myth where Atlas persuaded Hercules to hold up the sky while Atlas retrieved the golden apples of the Hesperides. Hercules agreed, but later tricked Atlas into reassuming the load. The frieze directly above these figures contains an inscription in Greek, translating as: "Let no one enter here who is ignorant of geometry." According to ancient tradition, this warning was inscribed above the door of Plato’s Academy in Athens. Its inclusion on Bayer’s title page declared that astronomy was fundamentally a branch of mathematics. In 1603, this statement was a universally accepted truism across European universities. While a similar declaration would arouse controversy twenty years later during debates involving Galileo, Bayer’s usage was uncontentious, reflecting established academic consensus at the time of publication. Neutrality and Science in Early Print Certain visual elements on the title page might tempt modern viewers to look for hidden cosmological arguments. For example, the stationary pose of Apollo and the active movement of Cybele could be misread as an argument for a stationary sun and a moving earth. However, such an interpretation is unwarranted. Bayer was not a Copernican and did not advocate for a heliocentric system. The visual rendering reflected standard artistic choices rather than a veiled defence of new astronomical theories. The title page was devoid of polemic, functioning as an emblem of academic harmony. Scientific frontispieces altered significantly in tone between 1620 and 1650, becoming active instruments in scientific disputes. Before this shift, treatises on astronomy preserved a strictly neutral presentation. Bayer’s Uranometria reflects the earlier era of scientific printing, in which frontispieces summarized knowledge rather than challenging orthodoxy. Other contemporary works followed this pattern. For example, François Aguilon’s Opticorum, published in Antwerp in 1616 with plates engraved by T. Galle after drawings by Peter Paul Rubens, similarly relied on allegorical figures to outline optical principles without engaging in ideological battles. Early Medieval Manuscript Traditions Bayer’s seventeenth-century atlas rested upon a long tradition of star cataloguing originating in antiquity. The foundational literary text was the Phaenomena, written in the third century B.C. by Aratus at the Antigonid court in Athens. Aratus compiled descriptions of the fixed stars and constellations, which were translated into Latin by writers including Germanicus and Avienus. In the eighth century, a Latin translation was edited into the Revised Aratus Latinus. This revised text stripped away much of the original poetic phrasing, leaving a series of astronomical fables followed by star catalogues that circulated widely in medieval Europe. Ninth-century manuscripts illustrate how scribes organized these star catalogues. A manuscript produced in Cologne around 805 under Archbishop Hildebald contains descriptions and drawings of forty-one constellations accompanying texts by Bede and Isidore. In its miniature for Hercules, the hero raises his club toward a serpent in a tree while wearing a lion skin across his arm. Bavarian manuscripts from the same period, linked to Arn of Salzburg and Hildebald of Mondsee, introduced technical advancements. These manuscripts arranged forty-two constellations into two-column layouts placed before the text and used distinct colours to mark individual stars, such as those forming the left hand of Perseus.
Cybele and the Fate of Attis
Atalanta agrees to marry the man who can outrun her, while defeated suitors face death. Hippomenes wins with Aphrodite’s golden apples, but the couple are later changed into lions after sex in a sacred place, with sources differing over whether Cybele or Zeus punishes them. Cybele Punishes Atalanta and Hippomenes Atalanta wished to remain a huntress and a virgin like Artemis, but many men sought her in marriage. At her father’s urging, she agreed to marry the man who could outrun her. She declared that defeated suitors would die, and many failed to escape this penalty. Hippomenes accepted the challenge despite the danger. Some sources call him Melanion. His parentage also varies. One account makes him a great-grandson of Poseidon, while other sources give him a different descent. Hippomenes asked Aphrodite for help. She gave him golden apples. One source says that they came from her sanctuary on Cyprus, while another connects them with the garden of the Hesperides. During the race, Hippomenes threw the apples aside one after another. Atalanta stopped to retrieve each of them. The delay caused by the last apple allowed Hippomenes to reach the finish first. He therefore won the race and married Atalanta. In Hyginus’s account, Aphrodite became angry because the couple failed to honour her for this help. She caused them to have sex in Cybele’s temple. Cybele punished the violation by changing Atalanta into a lioness and Hippomenes into a lion. She then harnessed them to her chariot. They became the lions shown with the goddess in images. Ovid gives a different account in the Metamorphoses. The couple had sex in a precinct of Zeus, and Zeus changed them into lions because they had defiled his sacred place. Since lions are said not to mate with lions, the transformation prevented Atalanta and Hippomenes from enjoying each other again. Source note: Primary text: the ancient sources. Corpus check: Egyptian Mythology; LEGENDS OF THE GODS. Cybele Mourns and Preserves Attis At Attis’s wedding, Cybele appeared in place of his intended bride. Attis was driven into madness. He castrated himself beneath a pine tree and died from the loss of blood. Arnobius preserves an account in which Cybele mourned him and appealed to Zeus to preserve what remained of his body. Zeus granted that Attis’s body should never decay. Attis became immortal and was linked with the pine tree beneath which he had died. His death and preservation formed the basis of later rites in which the pine represented Attis. These ceremonies were held at the spring equinox. The festival came to include his death, burial, and return to life. Attis had been born after an unusual chain of events. A drop of Zeus’s semen fell upon the ground, and the earth produced Agdistis, a being with male and female reproductive organs. The gods feared Agdistis’s power and cut off the male organ. Agdistis was then left as a female goddess, Cybele. An almond tree grew from the severed organ. Its fruit fell into the lap of Nana, the daughter of a local river god, and Nana gave birth to Attis. Attis grew into a handsome young man. Cybele fell in love with him, but he did not return her affection. His death was later connected with the evergreen pine and with annual resurrection rites. The pine brought into the festival was decorated with violets and woollen bands, and an effigy of Attis was attached to it. His resurrection was also understood through the growth of corn, as grain wounded by the reaper, buried, and restored when sown in the ground. Cybele Mourns and Preserves Attis. Original MythSource illustration created for this story; not a historical artwork. Source note: Primary text: the ancient sources. Corpus check: LEGENDS OF THE GODS. Cybele in the Agdistis and Attis Legend Diodorus Siculus records that a drop of Zeus’s semen fell upon the ground. After some time, the earth produced Agdistis, a powerful deity with male and female reproductive organs. Fearing this being, the gods cut off the male organ. Agdistis was left as a female goddess, Cybele. An almond tree grew from the severed organ. Its fruit fell into the lap of Nana, the daughter of a local river god. Contact with the fruit made Nana pregnant, and she gave birth to a handsome boy called Attis. When Attis grew up, Cybele fell in love with him. He did not return her affection. On the day of Attis’s marriage, Cybele came to the wedding ceremony in place of the bride he intended to marry. Attis was driven into a state of madness and castrated himself. Cybele asked that Attis be made immortal. Her request was granted, and Attis was transformed into a pine tree. In this tradition, Agdistis’s transformation into Cybele, Nana’s contact with the almond fruit, and Cybele’s unreturned love for Attis lead directly to his self-castration and transformation. Source note: Primary text: the ancient sources. Corpus check: THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH : an English version with an introduction; LEGENDS OF THE GODS.
Maria Sibylla Merian: Painting Metamorphosis from Life
Maria Sibylla Merian was a German-born entomologist and painter who established her reputation in Amsterdam. Through direct fieldwork in Suriname and meticulous printmaking, she documented the life cycles of nearly two hundred insect species, transforming natural history. The Amsterdam Studio and Commercial Trade Born in Germany, Maria Sibylla Merian moved to Amsterdam in 1691 after leaving her husband. In the Dutch Republic, women found opportunities to pursue art and manage independent studios. Merian established a successful commercial art trade in Amsterdam alongside her two artist daughters, Johanna Helena and Dorothea Maria. The business produced and sold natural history paintings, drawings, and botanical studies to collectors. By building a secure trade, Merian acquired financial independence. This commercial success allowed her to fund her work and purchase supplies for extensive research into natural history. In Amsterdam, Merian integrated into networks of scholars, civic leaders, and collectors. She formed friendships with prominent local figures, including Nicolaas Witsen, who served as mayor of Amsterdam, and Frederick Ruysch, a doctor and collector. Her studies focused on observing living insects and recording their transformation over time. Merian avoided relying on speculative theories, choosing instead to collect caterpillars and raise them to record every phase of development. Her reputation as a meticulous painter of insects and plants grew rapidly within Dutch scholarly and artistic circles. Scientific Expedition to Suriname In 1699, Merian took an unprecedented step for a European natural scientist by travelling to South America. Accompanied by her daughter, she sailed to Suriname, located at the north-easterly point of the continent. This trip was one of the earliest European scientific voyages organised specifically for fieldwork rather than commercial trade or colonial expansion. Merian financed the entire journey herself using profits from her Amsterdam studio business. Upon arrival, she established a working environment where she could study living tropical organisms directly within their natural habitats. Merian worked in Suriname under demanding environmental conditions. Together with her daughter, she collected specimens from the jungle, observing life cycles and insect interactions with native plant species. Her studies documented plants and insects previously unknown to European scholars. She made drawings of caterpillars, chrysalises, and adult butterflies on their native host plants. Serious illness eventually forced Merian to cut her research short and return to the Netherlands, but she brought back an extensive collection of sketches, preserved specimens, and scientific notes. Maria Sibylla Merian-Metamorphosis-Uni bib Utrecht MAG AB 352 Rariora 20. Public domain; source: Wikimedia Commons. Publication of Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium After returning from South America, Merian re-established her art business in Amsterdam and compiled her fieldwork into a major published study. In 1705, she released Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium in both Latin and Dutch. The volume contained sixty detailed scientific illustrations accompanied by written observations. Merian's plates illustrated complex biological processes, showing plants like the pomegranate tree with its flowers, fruit, caterpillars, chrysalises, and mature butterflies. Other compositions featured native species like pineapples alongside German and Australian cockroaches, as well as reptiles such as crocodiles. Merian's published work provided clear evidence of insect metamorphosis for nearly two hundred species. European scholars acknowledged the detail of her observations and the accuracy of her illustrations. The writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe later consulted her works for his scientific research. Through her publication, Merian recorded ecological interactions between insects and plants, documenting feeding habits and developmental stages. Her daughter assisted in reproducing and colouring the prints, maintaining high standards of production across the published editions. Visual Identity and Studio Iconography Merian’s professional achievements were recorded in artistic literature of the period. Arnold Houbraken included her in his biographical publication on Dutch painters. The biography contained a studio portrait print engraved by Jacob Houbraken after a drawing by Georg Gsell. The composition depicts Merian in her workspace, surrounded by her artist tools, books, a globe, and precise drawings of natural specimens. A cloth of honour hangs overhead, placing her within a tradition of scholarly portraiture reserved for accomplished intellectuals. The studio portrait contains distinct symbolic elements that reflect Merian’s personal and political background. Behind her hangs the Merian coat of arms, which shows a stork holding a serpent in its beak. Nearby figures include a miniature statue sounding a trumpet to denote fame, alongside a helmeted Maid of Holland holding a pike and Hat of Liberty. The imagery links her scientific contributions to civic pride. Furthermore, Merian’s earlier membership in the Labadist religious community, founded by Jean de Labadie, connects her to a broader network of scholarly women in the Netherlands. Empirical Observation and Recognition During the Dutch Golden Age, scientific inquiry moved away from relying on classical texts toward direct empirical observation. Earlier writers treated insects as minor subjects, citing them primarily to illustrate moral or biblical lessons. Merian’s systematic research contributed to replacing these traditional texts with empirical records. Her focus on insect life cycles helped establish entomology as a rigorous scientific discipline. Today, scholars consider her one of the founders of modern zoology because of her precise records of metamorphosis and habitat dynamics. Although respected during her lifetime, Merian’s contributions were largely overlooked after her death in 1717. Her work remained unacknowledged in mainstream scientific literature until the nineteenth century. Full recognition of her achievements returned during the 1970s and 1980s through British and German studies. Interest in her work expanded further in 2017 when Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium was republished on the three-hundredth anniversary of her death, confirming her place in the history of natural history illustration.