Antique astrolabe set amongst stone reliefs

by Henk Egbertzen

A large bronze instrument, right in the centre of the image. Numbers, lines, a compass rose in the middle. All around it: stone reliefs depicting dragons, a ram and a set of scales. Beneath them, ancient books.

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This is an astrolabe. A medieval instrument used to measure the position of the stars. Navigation, time, science. Everything that was once needed to understand the world, in a single bronze disc.

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The symbols surrounding it form the zodiac. The ram, the scales, the dragon. They mark the seasons and the position of the sun. It is as if the instrument not only measures the heavens, but also contains the stories about them.

- The numbers and lines on the disc form a protractor. This allowed the user to determine the altitude of the sun or a star. In this way, they knew what time it was, or what day it was, without needing a clock.

- The books at the bottom are old. Worn covers, discoloured pages's. As if someone had studied here for years, searching for answers in the stars. As if the wisdom lies not in the bronze, but in what has been gathered around it.

- This piece would look good in an office, hallway or study. For those who love history. For those who want something they can keep discovering.