Gualterus Arsenius ( - 1580)

Field(s) of interest: scientific instruments
Gender: male


Died: Leuven, 1580

Biography:
Scientific instrument maker from Louvain, Belgium. Apprentice of Gemma Regnerus Frisius, who might have been his uncle. After Frisius' death in 1555, Arsenius continued making scientific instruments. He became the most renowned member of the Arsenius family of instrument makers. Arsenius's instruments were not only elegantly designed, but also very exact. His astrolabes were especially highly praised. He may have taken over Mercator's workshop when the latter moved to Duisburg (Germany).

Arsenius probably had two brothers, Regnerus and Remi Arsenius and was the father of Ambrosius and Ferdinand Arsenius. He was active until at least 1575. His instruments were sold in the Low Countries as well as abroad. One of his clients was Philip II of Spain.

Collections: Adler Planetarium, Chicago; Archeological Museum, Madrid, National Museum Munchen; Musée du Cinquantenaire, Brussels; British Museum, London (cross-staff); Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, Paris (Gemma Frisius Universal and planispheric astrolabe, signed: 'Rennerus Arssenius, 1569'); Instituto de San Isidro; Linton Collection, Bielefeld (Gemma Frisius Universal and planispheric astrolabe, 1556); Merton College, Oxford; Musee de Chambery, France (Gemma Frisius Universal and planispheric astrolabe); Musée de Cluny; Museo Arqueologica Nacional, Madrid (Gemma Frisius Universal and planispheric astrolabe, signed: 'Gualterus Arssenius, 1566'); Museo di Storia della Fisica, Padua (Gemma Frisius Universal and planispheric astrolabe, signed: 'Renerus Arsscenius, 1566'); Museo Nacional de Ciencia y Technologia (cross-staff bar); Museum Boerhaave, Leiden; Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan (armillary sphere); Muzeia M.V. Lomonosova, St. Petersburg (Gemma Frisius Universal and planispheric astrolabe, signed: 'G.A., 1568'); National Maritime Museum, Greenwich (armillary sphere); Science Museum, London (Gemma Frisius Universal and planispheric astrolabe, 1556).

Occupations:
instrument maker - <1580 (Leuven)

Sources:
Rooseboom, M., Bijdrage tot de geschiedenis der instrumentmakerskunst in de noordelijke Nederlanden (Leiden 1950).

Nachet, A., Collection Nachet (Paris 1929 & 1976), 73.

Cleempoel, K. van, 'The three "Spanish" astrolabes of Gualterus Arsenius', in: M.E. Pineiro (e.a.), Scientific Instruments in the Sixteenth Century (Madrid 1997), 81-89.

Cleempoel, K. van, 'A simple theodolite and sundial attributable to Gualterus Arsenius', Sphaera : the newsletter of the Museum of the History of Science 7 (1998), 6 (ill.).

Santurntun, C.M., 'New Documentary data on the astrolabe by Gualterus Arsenius bearing the legend 'Philippo Rege''', in: M.E. Pineiro (e.a.), Scientific Instruments in the Sixteenth Century (Madrid 1997), 99-103.

Zinner, E., Deutsche und Niederländsche astronomische Instrumente des 11.-18. Jahrhunderts (München 1956)

Daumas, M., Les instruments scientifiques aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles (Paris 1953), 14, 113.

Gunther, R., The astrolabes of the world (London 1976).

Cleempoel, K. van, 'The Production of Scientific Instruments in Louvain in the 16th Century', in: M.E. Pineiro (e.a.), Scientific Instruments in the sixteenth Century (Madrid 1997), 63-65

Cleempoel, K. van, 'The Philip II astrolabe', in: M.E. Pineiro (e.a.), Scientific Instruments in the Sixteenth Century (Madrid 1997), 91-97.

Michel, H. L'Art des instruments de mathematiques en Belgique au XVIe siècle (Bruxelles 1935)

Ortroy, F. van, Bio-bibliographie de Gemma Frisius, fondateur de l'Ecole Belge de Geographie, de son fils Corneille et de ses neveux les Arsenius (Amsterdam 1920).