Museo Galileo
italiano
Virtual Museum
Astrolabe
    • Setting:
      Room V
    • Maker:
      Gualterus Arsenius
    • Place:
      Louvain
    • Date:
      1572
    • Materials:
      brass
    • Dimensions:
      diameter 341 mm
    • Inventory:
      1103
    • Astrolabe (Inv. 1103)
    • Astrolabe (Inv. 1103)

Made by Gualterus Arsenius, nephew of Gemma Frisius, this astrolabe has ten tympanums for different latitudes. There is a rete and an alidade. The suspension ring contains a magnetic compass complete with magnetic needle, held up by two small graceful sculptures of a man and a woman. Provenance: Medici collections.