The invention of mathematical instruments was driven, since antiquity, by the demands of astronomical observation, navigation, and cartography. Some of the older instruments, such as the armillary sphere or the parallactic ruler, were described in Ptolemy's Almagest. Arab astronomers were responsible for the extraordinary invention of the astrolabe and its variants: the quadrant, the equatorium, the torquetum, and the geometrical square. These instruments were also used in the Middle Ages, together with the Jacob's staff, for measuring terrestrial distances and determine latitude. The map-making and military needs of the Renaissance gave rise to a wide range of instruments often assembled into what were known as mathematical compendia: these contained surveyor's magnetic compasses, proportional compasses, surveyor's compasses, folding squares, goniometers, calipers, plumb levels, and numerous accessories. The scientific collections of the leading European courts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries also comprised other types of mathematical instruments: surveying instruments, sundials, and calculating machines.
Inv. 656
Franz Schwartz, Brussels, first half 18th cent.
Inv. 597
Maker unknown, 18th cent.
Inv. 671
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Inv. 677
Maker unknown, 18th cent.
Inv. 672
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Inv. 243, 244, 247
Giacomo Lusverg, Domenico Lusverg, Rome, second half 17th cent. - first half 18th cent.
Inv. 2532, 2541, 2542 (archipenzolo con busto di fanciullo), 2543, 3726
Christoph Schissler, German, late 16th cent.
Inv. 3179
Maker unknown, Italian?, 17th cent.
Inv. 679
Henri Sutton, Samuel Knibb, London, 1664
Inv. 3693
Peugeot Frères, French, 19th cent.
Inv. 652, 3706
Maker unknown, Italian, 17th cent.
Inv. 639, 640, 673, 703
Giacomo Lusverg, Domenico Lusverg, Rome, late 17th cent. - early 18th cent.
Inv. 3822
Giovanni Battista Giusti [attr.], Florence, second half 16th cent.
Inv. 2516
James Kynvyn, London, 1595
Inv. 628
Antoine La Motte, Rome, 1768
Inv. 3629
F. Rousselot, Paris, 18th cent.
Inv. 3567
Giovanni Maccari, Rome, 1666
Inv. 3540
Giovanni Maccari, Italian, 1676
Inv. 121
Maker unknown, Italian?, 16th cent.
Inv. 151
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Inv. 3630
"Ring", Berlin, 18th cent.
Inv. 245, 3699
Domenico Lusverg, Rome, 1710
Inv. 2643
Egnazio Danti, Florence, 1568
Inv. 2467
Hans Christoph Schissler, German, late 16th cent.
Inv. 2530
Joost Bürgi [attr.], German, late 16th cent.
Inv. 120
Maker unknown, Italian?, 16th cent.
Inv. 2741
Maker unknown, Italian, late 17th cent. - early 18th cent.
Inv. 3716
Antonio Santucci, after 1582
Inv. 3184
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Inv. 3604
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Inv. 3690
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Inv. 654
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Inv. 3695
Pierre Galland, 18th cent.
Inv. 2513
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Inv. 2513
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Inv. 2510
Georg Zorn, Augsburg, 1618
Dep. GN, Roma
Antonio Costa, Italian, 17th cent.
Inv. 3676
Pierre Le Maire, Paris, 18th cent.
Inv. 650
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Inv. 3647
Jacques Canivet, Paris, 18th cent.
Inv. 2512
Jost Miller, Strasbourg, 1616
Inv. 613
Maker unknown, English, late 16th cent.
Inv. 683, 2526
Maker unknown, 16th cent.
Inv. 1495, 2465
Tobias Volckmer, Braunschweig, 1608
Inv. 242, 3362
James Kynvyn [attr.], English, 1595 (?)
Inv. 2523
Jean Giamin, Rome, late 16th cent.
Inv. 2509
Thomas Gemini, English, mid-16th cent.
Inv. 2522
Maker unknown, Naples, 1553
Inv. 1322, 3683
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Inv. 1279
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Inv. 144
Baldassarre Lanci, Florence or Siena, 16th cent.
Inv. 2508
Maker unknown, Italian, 17th cent.
Inv. 1471
Maker unknown, Italian, 17th cent.
Inv. 3687
Urbino workshop, 16th cent.
Inv. 2527
Humphrey Cole, London, 1575
Inv. 1280
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Inv. 3371
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Inv. 2506
Matteo Botti, Giovanbattista Botti, Italian, 17th cent.
Inv. 149
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Inv. 154
Erasmus Habermel, Prague, late 16th cent.
Inv. 150
Michael Bumel, Nuremberg, 1625
Inv. 240
Augustine Ryther, English, 1590
Inv. 2528
Maker unknown, English, late 16th cent.
Inv. 3164
Baldassarre Lanci [attr.], Florence, 16th cent.
Inv. 668
Paolo Massucci, Lucca, 1604
Inv. 689
John Marke, London, 1670
Inv. 2529, 2637
Christoph Schissler [attr.], German, late 16th cent.