Star style
This astrolabe illustrates the imaginative developments that were possible for a skilled and original maker. The shape of the mater - a dodecagon - is unusual, but the rete is particularly special. Perhaps its asymmetrical design suited mannerist taste at the court of Rudolf II, where Habermel found commissions. The astrolabe carries the arms of Franciscus Paduanius, a physician to Rudolf.
Astrolabe, by Erasmus Habermel, Germany, c.1585 (
Inv. 37297)