Sphaera Armillaris
Continental: 18th Century
Hand-colored engraving
12.25 x 18.25 inches, plate mark
15.75 x 20.25 inches, overall
Sold, please inquire as to the availability of similar items.
Sphaera Armillaris
18th C. Study of Armillary Sphere
18th C. Study of Armillary Sphere
This item is sold. It has been placed here in our online archives as a service for researchers and collectors.
- Please inquire as to the availability of similar items currently in stock, or use the navigation bar above to browse our site for currently available items.
- Find guidelines for the use of images from georgeglazer.com.
- To see more archived items, view our directory.
- Find information about selling your art and antiques.
Study of a Ptolemaic armillary sphere. The central terrestrial globe (labeled Terra) is surrounded by Arctic and Antarctic circles, Cancer and Capricorn tropical circles, and the equatorial circle -- all inside a zodiac band; these in turn are set within a calibrated meridian and a horizon band on Baroque acanthus and scroll base.
Ptolemy (2nd Century A.D.), an Alexandrian astronomer believed that the earth was at the center of the universe. In the Renaissance, the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), published his important treatise in which he proposed the revolutionary theory that the sun was the center of the universe. This challenged the geocentrism of Ptolemy, and was particularly controversial in the church because of its conflict with basic religious teachings.