Museo Galileo
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Virtual Museum
Armillary sphere
    • Setting:
      Room III
    • Maker:
      unknown
    • Date:
      17th cent.
    • Materials:
      varnished brass
    • Dimensions:
      sphere diameter 170 mm, height 340 mm, width 210 mm
    • Inventory:
      1101
    • Armillary sphere (Inv. 1101)

Ptolemaic armillary sphere acquired and restored in the second half of the nineteenth century by Ferdinando Meucci, director of the Museo di Fisica e Storia Naturale of Florence. The Earth is represented by a brass sphere at the center. Two circles carry the Moon and Sun respectively. The sphere also carries the zodiac signs with their Latin names.