COPENHAGEN, DENMARK.- The National Museum of Denmark presents The World of Tycho Brahe. Denmark in Europe 1550-1600, on view through April 9, 2007. 2006 was Renaissance Year in Denmark. To mark it the National Museum’s large annual exhibition turns the focus on “the noble scholar with the silver nose” – the world-renowned astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601). With Tycho Brahe’s life as the pivotal point the visitor gets close to the Renaissance in Denmark and Europe in the latter half of the sixteenth century. Among other things you can see impressive scientific instruments and the magnificence with which the aristocracy surrounded itself. And in the restaurant you can have a taste of the Renaissance!

A close-up of the life of the aristocracy - The exhibition has been staged so the visitor gets a sense of the Renaissance’s pleasure in symmetry and its play on perspective. A symmetrical Renaissance garden functions as the ground plan for the first part of the exhibition, where aristocratic costumes, hunting equipment, artfully wrought furnishings and a whole Renaissance ceiling help to tell the story of the rich landowner’s life into which Tycho Brahe was born.

Uraniborg – a “research centre” from the Renaissance - Tycho Brahe’s castle and “research centre” Uraniborg on the island of Hven in the Sound between Denmark and Sweden is at the centre of the second part of the exhibition. On his island he created a world that united art and science, the poetic and the practical, alchemy, astrology and astronomy. Under a night-blue starry sky you can for example see a large collection of marvellous scientific instruments from Tycho Brahe’s time.

A taste of the Renaissance - From Tuesday to Sunday throughout the exhibition period the museum’s restaurant is offering a dish inspired by the cuisine of the Renaissance. On the first Saturday in the month there are also cakes made to recipes from the sixteenth century on the menu.