Astrolabe, by Regnerus Arsenius, Louvain, 1565 (Inv. 53558)
The finest sixteenth-century workshop
The Arsenius workshop in Louvain was perhaps the most famous centre of astrolabe production in the sixteenth century. For a time it was under the direction of the celebrated cartographer Gerard Mercator, before passing to Gualterus Arsenius, who sometimes signs himself on instruments as the nephew of the famous mathematician Gemma Frisius.