Bologna Astronomical Museum

Armillary sphere by D. Lusverg , Rome, 1744

The armillary sphere is a representation of the celestial sphere, which was already used by the Greeks in the III century b.C. Its name comes from the latin armilla (circle, bracelet), since it has a skeleton made of graduated metal circles, representing the equator, the ecliptic, meridians and parallels.

The sphere in Bologna Astronomical Museum has the name of its builder, together with place and date of construction, engraved on the arctic polar ring: Dominicus Lusverg f[ecit] Romae 1744. In relief on the black wooden base is the coat-of-arms of Pope Benedict XIV, in the world the Bolognese Prospero Lambertini.