Epact Scientific Instruments of Medieval and Renaissance Europe

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Astrolabe
Unsigned
Dated 1568; Italian
Brass; 250 mm in diameter

The astrolabe is made up of the mater, inside which three plates have been placed, two of which have latitudes 41 and 43? (Naples, Pisa), 45 and 48? (Piacenza, Bavaria, Vienna). The third has the shadow square and the geographical planisphere. The year 1568 is marked on the suspension, which also houses a compass. On the back of the astrolabe a celestial planisphere is engraved according to the orthographic projection of Juan de Rojas.

The instrument comes from the bequest of the scientist Vincenzo Viviani and, for the constructional characteristics, has been attributed to Egnatio Danti, who describes Rojas's planisphere in his Treatise on the use and structure of the astrolabe (Florence, 1569).

Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Firenze
Inventory no. 1285

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