Regiomontanus

Cardinal Bessarion

Regiomontanus' astrolabe (front)

Regiomontanus' astrolabe (back)

Byzantine astrolabe of 1062

Ptolemy

The Byzantine Emperor Ioannis VIII

The Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II

Regiomontanus' epigram

Regiomontanus' angel

The axes I-VIII
of the acrostic

The eight
"personal spaces" 1-8

There is a connection between the Byzantine astro­labe made for Sergios in 1062, the astro­labe that Regio­montanus gave to Cardinal Bessarion in 1462, and "The Flagellation of Christ" by Piero della Francesca. For a 2-page summary continue to next page and for a pdf file of that summary together with an introduction (50 pages) click here. For a "silent lecture" (over 200 pdf images including explanatory text) click here. For a full account see David King, Astrolabes and Angels, Epigrams and Enigmas – From Regiomontanus' Acrostic for Cardinal Bessarion to Piero della Francesca's "Flagellation of Christ", Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 2007.

The "Flagellation of Christ"
by Piero della Francesca

Conveniunt in unum