Italian or German, 17th Century
Armillary Sphere with a Figure of Atlas
Live auction begins on:
June 24, 02:00 PM GMT
Estimate
5,000 - 7,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
with a large central band engraved with the imagery and names of the zodiac above numbering; several other bands engraved with numbers
gilt-bronze and brass, on a later porphyry base
height overall: 17 ¼ in.; 43.8 cm
Armillary spheres were instruments used to model the movement of celestial bodies, such as the sun, stars, and planets, around a central point, either the Earth or the Sun. They visualized the heavens as a system of nested rings, allowing observers to understand celestial motion in three dimensions. The present example, incorporating a figure of Atlas supporting the celestial sphere, was a common type seen in the Renaissance and onward.