Museo Galileo
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Models of the heavens
Video   Text

 

Since antiquity, astronomers have studied the movement of the stars, striving to reproduce the appearance of the heavens by means of suitable models. One of the oldest solutions to this problem is globes, in which the constellations are shown on the surface of a metal sphere engraved with the main celestial circles: the horizon, the meridian, the equator, the tropics, and the ecliptic. In armillary spheres, the relationships between these circles and the planetary movements are displayed through a combination of concentric rings revolving around the axis of the sphere. Astrolabes, on the contrary, display the projection of the celestial sphere on a flat surface. But the astrolabe reproduces the circumpolar movement of the stars only for a given latitude. The one exception to this rule is the universal astrolabe, which allows a reading of the sky at all latitudes. The astrolabe gave rise to important astronomical instruments such as the quadrant—a sort of astrolabe folded twice on itself—and the torquetum, in which the circles of the celestial sphere are placed on different planes to facilitate the reading of the heavenly bodies' astronomical coordinates—namely, their altazimuth, equatorial, and ecliptic coordinates.

Objects
Aristotelian planetarium

Aristotelian planetarium

Inv. 2700
Maker unknown, Italian, ca. 1600

Armillary sphere

Armillary sphere

Inv. 1101
Maker unknown, 17th cent.

Armillary sphere

Armillary sphere

Inv. 1102
Maker unknown, 17th cent.

Armillary sphere

Armillary sphere

Inv. 1104
Maker unknown, ca. 1575

Armillary sphere

Armillary sphere

Inv. 2711
Girolamo della Volpaia, Florence, 1564

Armillary sphere

Armillary sphere

Inv. 3620
Maison Delamarche, Paris, 1858

Armillary sphere

Armillary sphere

Inv. 714
Antonio Santucci, Florence, 1588-1593

Armillary sphere

Armillary sphere

Inv. 1115
Carlo Plato, Rome, 1578

Armillary sphere

Armillary sphere

Inv. 119
Maker unknown, 17th cent.

Armillary sphere

Armillary sphere

Inv. 1117
Maker unknown, 17th cent.

Astrolabe

Astrolabe

Inv. 1094
Gualterus Arsenius [attr.], Flemish, ca. 1570

Astrolabe

Astrolabe

Inv. 1095
Charles Whitwell, English, 1595

Astrolabe

Astrolabe

Inv. 1097
Johann Richter (Praetorius), Altdorf, 1591

Astrolabe

Astrolabe

Inv. 1098
Gerard Mercator [attr.], Duisburg, ca. 1570

Astrolabe

Astrolabe

Inv. 3361
Egnazio Danti or Giovanni Battista Giusti [attr.], Florence, 16th cent.

Astrolabe

Astrolabe

Inv. 1103
Gualterus Arsenius, Louvain, 1572

Astrolabe

Astrolabe

Inv. 1100
Maker unknown, English?, late 16th cent.

Celestial globe

Celestial globe

Dep. SBAS, Firenze
Vincenzo Coronelli, 1696

Celestial globe

Celestial globe

Inv. 347
Willem Jansz Blaeu, published by Joan Blaeu after 1630

Celestial globe

Celestial globe

Inv. 2712
Ibrâhim 'Ibn Saîd as Sahlì, Valencia, 1085

Celestial globe

Celestial globe

Dep. SBAS, Firenze
Johann Georg Klinger, Nuremberg, 1790

Celestial globe

Celestial globe

Loan INAF-Arcetri
Willem Jansz Blaeu, 1622

Celestial globe

Celestial globe

Inv. 974
Guillaume Delisle, Paris, 1700

Celestial globe

Celestial globe

Loan INAF-Arcetri
Maison Delamarche, Paris, after 1805

Celestial globe

Celestial globe

Inv. 348
Willem Jansz Blaeu, published by Joan Blaeu after 1630

Celestial globe

Celestial globe

Inv. 2702
Matthäus Greuter, Rome, 1636

Celestial globe

Celestial globe

Inv. 123
Mario Cartaro, Rome, 1577

Celestial globe

Celestial globe

Inv. 2366
Vincenzo Coronelli, Venice, 1692

Celestial globe

Celestial globe

Inv. 2696
Jodocus Hondius Jr, Adrianus Veen, 1613

Celestial globe

Celestial globe

Inv. 2697
Willem Jansz Blaeu, published by Joan Blaeu after 1630

Celestial globe

Celestial globe

Inv. 2364
Vincenzo Coronelli, Arnold Deuvez, Jean-Baptiste Nolin, Paris, 1693

Copernican sphere

Copernican sphere

Inv. 3263
Jean Pigeon [attr.], Paris?, ca. 1725

Fragments of paper astrolabes

Fragments of paper astrolabes

Inv. 1289bis
Maker unknown, Florence?, 17th cent.

Model of the lunar orb

Model of the lunar orb

Inv. 118
Girolamo della Volpaia, Florence, 1557

Model of the solar orb

Model of the solar orb

Inv. 1290
Maker unknown, ca. 1575

Plane astrolabe

Plane astrolabe

Inv. 660, 1092
Maker unknown, Tuscany?, 17th cent.

Plane astrolabe

Plane astrolabe

Inv. 1285
Maker unknown, Italian, 1568

Plane astrolabe

Plane astrolabe

Inv. 1113
Maker unknown, Arab, 10th cent.

Plane astrolabe

Plane astrolabe

Inv. 1109
Maker unknown, Arab, 14th cent. (?)

Plane astrolabe

Plane astrolabe

Inv. 1105
Muhammad 'Ibn Abi'l Qasim 'Ibn Bakran, Arab, 1102-1103

Plane astrolabe

Plane astrolabe

Inv. 1289
Vincenzo Viviani [attr.], Italian, 1645

Plane astrolabe

Plane astrolabe

Inv. 1282
Maker unknown, German, 16th cent.

Plane astrolabe

Plane astrolabe

Inv. 1106
Maker unknown, German?, 16th cent.

Plane astrolabe

Plane astrolabe

Inv. 1107
Maker unknown, French?, 13th cent.

Plane astrolabe

Plane astrolabe

Inv. 1114
Christoph Schissler, Augsburg, 1560

Plane astrolabe

Plane astrolabe

Inv. 1096
Hans Dorn [attr.], German, 1483

Plane astrolabe (open)

Plane astrolabe (open)

Inv. 1111
Georg Hartmann, Nuremberg, 1545

Planetarium

Planetarium

Inv. 3901
Maker unknown, after 1877

Tellurium

Tellurium

Dep. SBAS, Firenze
Charles-François Delamarche [attr.], Paris, ca. 1800