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From the Crucifixion to pop art: how humanity has painted solar eclipses

EuroNews · 🇫🇷 public France · · 1080 words · By Cristian Caraballo
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What to know about From the Crucifixion to pop art: how humanity has painted solar eclipses

Nebra sky disc, Rubens, Ribera, Howard Russell Butler and Roy Lichtenstein's pop art all show solar eclipses in painting, between religion, science and aesthetic fascination over millennia.

Claims checked 19
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center83%
Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Nebra sky disc, Rubens, Ribera, Howard Russell Butler and Roy Lichtenstein's pop art all show solar eclipses in painting, between religion, science and aesthetic fascination over millennia.

Why it matters

On 12 August the Moon will once again cover the Sun over much of Spain, and for a few minutes there will be a total solar eclipse visible that day.

Common ground

It will be nowhere near the first time an eclipse has left humanity open-mouthed in amazement.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/culture/2026/08/06/from-the-crucifixion-to-pop-art-how-…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 19 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 9
verified Verified By Reference 4
help Insufficient Evidence 2
info Single Source 2
check_circle Corroborated 2
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Claim 1: “The resulting triptych was exhibited for years at the Hayden Planetarium of New York's American Museum of Natural History, and half-scale copies exist in Princeton, at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and at the Buffalo Museum of Science.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 2: “Herodotus himself recorded how a solar eclipse interrupted a battle between the Medes and the Lydians in Asia Minor”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia (Eclipse of Thales) and web search results confirm that Herodotus recorded a solar eclipse that interrupted a battle between the Medes and Lydians in Asia Minor.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Anatolia (Greek: Ανατολή, Turkish: Anadolu), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and i…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatolia
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lydia (Ancient Greek: Λυδία, romanized: Ludía; Latin: Lȳdia) was an Indo-European Iron Age kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Ach…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Media (Old Persian: 𐎶𐎠𐎭, romanized: Māda; Ancient Greek: Μηδία, romanized: Mēdía; Akkadian: Mādāya) was a polity centered in Ecbatana that existed from the 7th century BCE until the mid-6th century BC…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_kingdom
+ 3 more evidence sources
help
Claim 3: “Antoine Caron titled his 1570-1580 canvas, now in the Getty in Los Angeles, 'Dionysius the Areopagite Converting the Pagan Philosophers', although it is better known as 'Astronomers Observing a Solar Eclipse...'”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found after searching for this claim.
info
Claim 4: “José de Ribera painted in his 'Christ Crucified' of 1643, now in the Fine Arts Museum of Vitoria, an almost translucent lunar disc that lets the outline of the Sun behind be glimpsed”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of irrelevant results regarding 'Roblox executors' and does not mention José de Ribera or the painting 'Christ Crucified'.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Download the most advanced freemium executor. Fast and undetected!
http://yub-x.best/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Yubx is one of the best freemium executors with a 100% unc success rate. Fast execution, Windows support, undetected by byfron.
https://yub-x.org/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Apr 12, 2026 · This roblox executor source is a clean v2 of the YuB-X-Low source and is made to learn and use. Contribute to itz-vuxqzo/YuB-X-Public development by creating an account on GitHub.
https://github.com/itz-vuxqzo/YuB-X-Public
schedule
Claim 5: “Howard Russell Butler... painted the 1918 eclipse in Oregon during an expedition by the US Naval Observatory, and repeated the feat with the eclipses of 1923 in California, 1925 in Connecticut and 1932 in Maine.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 6: “The Nebra Sky Disc, a Bronze Age bronze object found near Halle in Germany, already shows the Sun, the Moon and the Pleiades together on a single artefact”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and web search results confirm the Nebra Sky Disc is a Bronze Age bronze object found near Halle, Germany, depicting the sun, moon, and Pleiades.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Nebra (official name: Nebra (Unstrut), pronounced [ˈneːbʁa ˈʊnʃtʁuːt]) is a town in the district of Burgenlandkreis of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river Unstrut. Nebra has become nat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebra_(Unstrut)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Nebra sky disc (German: Himmelsscheibe von Nebra, pronounced [ˈhɪml̩sˌʃaɪbə fɔn ˈneːbra]) is a bronze disc of around 30 cm (12 in) diameter and a weight of 2.2 kg (4.9 lb), having a blue-green pat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebra_sky_disc
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Voyager Golden Records are two identical phonograph records, with one copy aboard each of the two Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977. The records contain sounds and data to reconstruct raster sca…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 7: “a French almanac from 1706 showed Louis XIV seated on his throne before the Sun... and included in one corner the eclipse of 12 May that year, which coincided with a French military defeat during the siege of Barcelona.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 8: “Rubens went a step further in his triptych for Antwerp cathedral: in 'The Elevation of the Cross' (1610-1611) he captured the onset of a solar eclipse”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the painting 'The Elevation of the Cross' by Rubens is verified via Wikipedia, the specific claim that it captures the onset of a solar eclipse is not corroborated by the provided evidence sources.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Rubens started the creative process for the Elevation of the Cross with a sketch of the general view of the composition. This first sketch, in the collection of the Louvre (INV 20188, Recto), shows th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elevation_of_the_Cross_(Ru…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Catholic and Orthodox tradition treats Peter as the first bishop of Rome – or pope – and also as the first bishop of Antioch. According to Christian tradition, Peter was crucified in Rome under Empero…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Peter
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Peter is a common masculine given name. It is derived directly from Greek Πέτρος, Petros (an invented, masculine form of Greek petra, the word for "rock" or "stone"), which itself was a translation of…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_(given_name)
check_circle
Claim 9: “The Italian painter Taddeo Gaddi depicted, in a 1330 triptych now held by the New-York Historical Society, a Moon drawing close to the Sun above the cross.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results (including French and English versions of the same article) confirm Taddeo Gaddi's 1330 triptych at the New-York Historical Society depicts the Moon drawing close to the Sun.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Florence Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Firenze), formally the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower (Italian: Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore [katteˈdraːle di ˈsanta maˈriːa del ˈfjoːre]), is the c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Cathedral
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Orsanmichele, Or San Michele or Orsammichele (pronounced [orsammiˈkɛːle]; from the Tuscan contraction of Orto di San Michele, "orchard" or "kitchen garden of Saint Michael") is a communal building and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orsanmichele
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A Persian miniature (Persian: نگارگری ایرانی, romanized: negârgari-ye Irâni) is a small Persian painting on paper, whether a book illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_miniature
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 10: “the Russian painter Ivan Aivazovsky... turned into a kind of half-night landscape the total eclipse he observed in 1851 from Feodosia ('Solar Eclipse in Feodosia')”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 11: “Ippolito Caffi portrayed the eclipse of 8 July 1842 over Venice ('Solar Eclipse in Fondamenta Nove')”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 12: “That scene was later turned into a chromolithograph in a portfolio of 15 plates published in 1882.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
check_circle
Claim 13: “A century later an anonymous Valencian artist did the same in a panel (the painting is called 'Crucifixion') that now hangs in the Thyssen-Bornemisza”
CORROBORATED
Web search results confirm an anonymous Valencian painting titled 'Crucifixion' in the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum depicts the sun in an ochre tone, associated with the theme of solar eclipses in the context of the article.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Herodotus himself recorded how a solar eclipse interrupted a battle between the Medes and the Lydians in Asia Minor, an episode that both sides interpreted as a sign.The sun can be seen in an ochre to…
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/articles/crucifixion-pop…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Anonymous Valencian artist. The Crucifixion. ca. 1450 - 1460.According to Natale, the present Crucifixion includes a series of elements that are also present and are developed in a composition of the …
https://www.museothyssen.org/en/collection/artists/anonymous…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Step inside the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid for an immersive virtual museum tour and discover an extraordinary collection of 20th-century art and modern masterpieces.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2AxZItohS4
verified
Claim 14: “On 12 August the Moon will once again cover the Sun over much of Spain, and for a few minutes there will be a total solar eclipse visible that day.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and multiple web search results confirm a total solar eclipse will occur on August 12, 2026, and that it will be visible in Europe, including Spain.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Southern Hemisphere, August is the seasonal equivalent of February in the Northern Hemispher…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Wednesday, 12 August 2026, with a magnitude of 1.0386. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partia…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_August_12,_20…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 15: “The Frenchman Étienne Léopold Trouvelot... travelled with his son to Creston, in the Territory of Wyoming, to observe the total eclipse of 29 July 1878 ('Total Eclipse of the Sun').”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 16: “By the 18th century, Donato Creti had painted a series of oils on astronomical observations commissioned by Count Marsili, who presented them to Pope Clement XI to persuade him to finance an observatory in Bologna. And it worked, as the observatory was built shortly afterwards.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found after searching for this claim.
schedule
Claim 17: “Roy Lichtenstein... in his 1975 work 'Eclipse of the Sun'”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 18: “Paul Klee dedicated a watercolour to it ('Solar Eclipse' ('Sonnenfinsternis'))”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 19: “The Augsburg Book of Miracles, a mid-16th-century manuscript, depicts the total eclipse of 1483 accompanied by the locust plague that devastated Italy that same year.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of irrelevant search results (slang meanings of 'mid' and biographies of Martin Luther) and does not mention the Augsburg Book of Miracles or the 1483 eclipse/locust plague.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — John of Nepomuk, also called John Nepomucene (Czech: Jan Nepomucký; German: Johannes Nepomuk; Latin: Ioannes Nepomucenus; c. 1345 – 20 March 1393), was a Bohemian clergyman. Due to his loyalty to Arch…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Nepomuk
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Martin Luther ( LOO-thər; German: [ˈmaʁtiːn ˈlʊtɐ] ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Augustinian friar. Luther was the s…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On the Jews and Their Lies (German: Von den Jüden und iren Lügen; in modern spelling Von den Juden und ihren Lügen) is a 65,000-word antisemitic treatise written in 1543 by the German Reformation lead…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Jews_and_Their_Lies
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.