Astrolabes and angels, epigrams and enigmas; from Regiomontanus' acrostic for Cardinal Bessarion to Piero della Francesca's Flagellation of Christ. (CD-ROM included).9783515090612 Astrolabes and angels, epigrams and enigmas; from Regiomontanus' acrostic acrostic (əkrŏ`stĭk), arrangement of words or lines in which a series of initial, final, or other corresponding letters, when taken together, stand in a set order to form a word, a phrase, the alphabet, or the like. for Cardinal Bessarion to Piero della Francesca's Flagellation flagellation /flag·el·la·tion/ (flaj?e-la´shun) 1. whipping or being whipped to achieve erotic pleasure. 2. exflagellation. 3. the formation or arrangement of flagella on an organism or surface. of Christ. (CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). included) King, David A. Franz Steiner Verlag 2007 348 pages $125.00 Hardcover Boethius; Bd. 56 Wissenschaftsgeschichte QB85 In 1462 in Rome, German astronomer Regiomontanus gave his patron Cardinal Bessarion an astrolabe astrolabe (ăs`trəlāb), instrument probably used originally for measuring the altitudes of heavenly bodies and for determining their positions and movements. with an engraving and epigram epigram, a short, polished, pithy saying, usually in verse, often with a satiric or paradoxical twist at the end. The term was originally applied by the Greeks to the inscriptions on stones. holding a complex of secret messages. The receiver read even more into them than the giver had intended, and commissioned a painting depicting the mysteries. King (retired professor of history of science at the Goethe U. in Frankfurt, Germany) unravels the various layers of meaning and error that have occurred in readings of the painting, Piero della Francesca's The flagellation of Christ, relating Bessarion's relation to the painting, and Italian knowledge of the astrolabe as he goes. An appendix discusses the use, history, and some examples of individual astrolabes; a CD-ROM contains additional material. ([c]20082005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR) |
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