An enlargement from the painting The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger.
Some sort of astronomical device I’d guess.
The details on this painting are unreal.
Would it be cheating to look in Wikipedia for the answer?
Not at all. I would have myself if I had known what it was called.
Using tineye.com to locate other images I found this.
It is a Torquetum.
A medieval instrument for measuring the position of an astronomical object in either equatorial, ecliptic, or terrestrial coordinate systems. It consisted of a series of circular plates with alidades, marked in degrees, hinged one upon the other at the appropriate angles.
Source: The Ambassadors (Holbein) - Wikipedia
About halfway down the page.
Thanks.
FYI, I started on the Wikipedia page for Hans Holbein the Younger. At the bottom of the page is a list of his paintings, with separate pages for each. I then clicked through to the page for the painting The Ambassadors and scanned it for a depiction of that thing. In other words, I didn’t start out knowing what it’s called.
Damn, I love this place.
I’m still getting used to the idea we can search for things other than text on the modern www. I’d probably be as stymied as the OP.
Hold our phone up to music playing and ask the WWW “What song is this?” Point your camera at a tree or leaf and ask the WWW “What species of plant is this?” Point your camera at a random gizmo (or building or landmark or place) and ask the WWW “What / where is this?”
It boggles the mind. Once you learn where / how to conduct those non-text searches.
Real-life example; my sister-in-law was in an antique store and saw chairs that looked like the pair in my mother’s living room so she sent us a photo. Google Image Search found other examples of that chair at various auction sites, so I was able to get more info on the designer and manufacturer.