Map of the Heavens by Johann Bode: Vorstellung Der Gestirne (Presentation of the Stars), Pegasus, Framed

Pegasus bursts across the sky, hooves tucked up as if clearing a fence.

This map of the heavens, framed, is Vorstellung Der Gestirne (Presentation of the Stars), Pegasus, by Johann Bode, published by Lange, from Leipzig, Germany, and dated 1782. It is a hand colored engraving on paper. Bode's atlas was one of the most popular star guides of its age, designed to help amateurs find the constellations. The winged horse is shown in warm brown, its wings in pale blue-green, beside a smaller horse's head and the figure of Andromeda. It is matted in cream and framed in ornate gold. It is 22 inches wide and 21 high.

A horse with wings needs no stable, only a good chart.