Circular-section wooden rod with brass reinforcements at both ends. The wood carries a linear scale with gold markings divided into 12 inches, corresponding to the Nuremberg foot (29.7 cm). The numbering runs from 1 to 12 and from 25 to 28. At the center is a German inscription: This ruler is 2.5 feet long. Brought to Florence from Germany by Prince Mattias de' Medici in the first half of the seventeenth century.