Curious George Co-Creator Hans Rey Redrew Virgo as a Reclining Woman

Summary: Curious George co-creator Hans Rey redrew Virgo as a reclining woman rather than as the standing female in traditional visualizations.

Curious George co-creator H.A. Rey’s redrawn Virgo the Virgin constellation alters the connecting lines but retains the constellation's original stars: AugPi at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Curious George co-creator Hans Rey redrew Virgo as a reclining woman, not as the standing female depicted in traditional visualizations.

German-born American author and illustrator Hans Augusto “H.A.” Rey (Sept. 16, 1898-Aug. 26, 1977) co-created the Curious George series of children’s picture books from 1939 to 1966 with his wife, Margarete “Margret” Elisabethe Waldstein Rey (May 16, 1906-Dec. 21, 1996).

German-born American author and illustrator Hans Augusto Rey (Sept. 16, 1898-Aug. 26, 1977) created the Curious George series of children’s picture books with his wife, Margret (May 16, 1906-Dec. 21, 1996). The husband-and-wife team’s seven original Curious George stories were published between 1941 and 1966.

Hans Rey’s interest in astronomy also provided an outlet for his creativity. Rey disagreed with traditional representations of the constellations. During his sky watches, Rey connected constellation stars differently from traditional outlines. He perceived his revisions as easier to remember and more suggestive of constellation names than traditional visualizations.

Rey presented his new method of visualizing constellations in 1952 in The Stars: A New Way to See Them and in 1954 in Find the Constellations. He noted in The Stars that his revisions retained the stars used in traditional representations. His revisions differed from traditional visualizations in the connecting lines.

Traditional connections of the stars in Virgo the Virgin constellation produce a standing, winged woman. One arm is upraised, and she holds a palm frond with that hand. The other arm hangs down, and that hand clasps an ear of grain.

Rey redrew Virgo as a large-headed reclining woman. His Virgo is attired modernly, with a short, knee-length skirt instead of the traditional visualization’s ankle-length gown.

Rey retained the upraised arm, but he envisioned an empty hand. In The Stars: A New Way to See Them, Rey considered that Virgo the Virgin is reaching for the beautiful tresses represented by neighboring constellation Coma Berenices the Hair of Berenice. In Find the Constellations, he suggested that, with her head positioned below the tail of neighboring Leo the Lion constellation, she is raising her arm in fear.

The traditional depiction of Virgo the Virgin places the constellation’s brightest star, Spica, in the ear of grain that the female figure holds. The traditional name of Spica for Alpha Virginis (α Virginis; Alpha Vir, α Vir) derives from Latin spīca virginis for “the virgin’s ear of grain.”

Rey, however, seemingly dispensed with the traditional symbol for agriculture and fertility. Rather, he mysteriously stated that his revised Virgo “carries her brightest jewel -- the bluish 1st-mag. star SPICA -- on an unusual spot.” The “unusual spot” appears to be Virgo’s left hip.

Rey also made changes to some of Virgo’s neighbors. Traditional depictions present Bootes the Herdsman as facing forward, standing upright and holding onto the leashes of Canes Venatici the Hunting Dogs. In The Stars: A New Way to See Them, Rey imagined Virgo as casting an unreciprocated gaze toward constellation Bootes. The Herdsman, however, has turned his back toward her. Rey’s Bootes is a seated pipe smoker. Rey transformed Leo the Lion from a pouncing lion into a walking lion.

Rey purposed with his revisions to ease constellation identification in order to restore enjoyment to stargazing. In The Stars: A New Way to See Them, he compared the efficacy of atlases for the 50 states of the United States with the ineffectiveness of constellation guides. He felt that studying an atlas leads to “pointing out the fifty states.” Yet, after reviewing constellation guides, “hardly any of us can point out fifty constellations.”

The takeaway for Curious George co-creator Hans Rey’s redrawn Virgo as a reclining woman wearing a modern, knee-length dress to replace traditional outlines of a standing female garbed in an ankle-length gown is that Rey’s revision only altered the connecting lines between stars, while still retaining all of the constellation’s component stars.

traditional visualization of Virgo the Virgin constellation, as depicted by British cartographer and engraver Sidney Hall (1788-1831) in Urania’s Mirror (1825), a set of 32 astronomical star chart cards; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.: U.S. Library of Congress, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Curious George co-creator H.A. Rey’s redrawn Virgo the Virgin constellation alters the connecting lines but retains the constellation's original stars: AugPi at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virgo_constellation_map_visualization.PNG

traditional visualization of Virgo the Virgin constellation, as depicted by British cartographer and engraver Sidney Hall (1788-1831) in Urania’s Mirror (1825), a set of 32 astronomical star chart cards; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.: U.S. Library of Congress, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sidney_Hall_-_Urania's_Mirror_-_Virgo.jpg; No known restrictions on publication in the US., via Library of Congress (LOC) Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) @ https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002695512/

For further information:

Marriner, Derdriu. "Curious George Co-Creator Hans Rey Drew Gemini as Hand Holding Twins." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/curious-george-co-creator-hans-rey-drew.html Rey, H.A. Find the Constellations. Boston MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1954.

Rey, H.A. The Stars: A New Way to See Them. Boston MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1952.