Museo Galileo
italiano
previous
Virtual Museum
Gunner's quadrant
    • Setting:
      Room VI
    • Maker:
      unknown
    • Date:
      17th cent.
    • Materials:
      brass
    • Dimensions:
      max. length 420 mm
    • Inventory:
      1303
    • Gunner's quadrant (Inv. 1303)
    • Gunner's quadrant (Inv. 1303)

This gunner's quadrant is composed of two flat legs of uneven length, joined at a right angle. A graduated arc enabled made it possible—presumably with the use of a plumb bob tied in the corner—to measure scarp-wall gradients and gun elevations. The model from which this example derives is described by Niccolò Tartaglia in Nova scientia (Venice, 1537). Provenance: Vincenzo Viviani bequest.