Epact Scientific Instruments of Medieval and Renaissance Europe

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Quadrant
Signed by Camillo della Volpaia
16th century; Florence
Brass; 190 mm in radius

This brass quadrant, which bears the Medici coat of arms, carries hour lines and its limb is divided to 90?. The instrument, which is calibrated for the latitude of Florence, could be used to observe the height of the sun, and thus to determine the time.

On the same face a disc providing a table of the sun's motion can also be seen, a typical feature of instruments made by the Della Volpaia family.

The monogram 'CVFF' allows the instrument to be attributed to Camillo, son of the head of the family Lorenzo and a maker of observational and measuring instruments.

Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Firenze
Inventory no. 3628

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