Astronomical Images : Projection of the daily motion of the Sun at its different points in the zodiac

Daniello Barbaro

Astronomical Images

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Daniello Barbaro (1514-1570) belonged to a Venetian patrician family, and was educated at the University of Padua. He is well-known for his collaboration with Andrea Palladio (1508-80) on the Italian translation and commentary on Vitruvius' work on architecture. Barbaro wrote on philosophical and religious topics, and had a keen interest in practical mathematics. He left his library and some astronomical instruments he had made to his brother. In the <i>La pratica della perspettiva</i> (1569), Barbaro discusses, among other things, the <i>camera obscura</i>. Federico Commandino (1509-75), who translated Ptolemy's <i>Planisphere</i> (Venice, 1544) noted the connection between stereographic projection used in perspective painting and the projection of the circles of the celestial sphere on to the plane of the equator, a technique used in constructing astrolabes. This illustration shows a projection of the daily motion of the Sun through the zodiac, with the horizon and lines of unequal hours for a particular latitude. It appears in Barbaro's <i>La practica della perspettiva</i> (1569), a manual dedicated to perspective.</p>