Antonio Santucci (?–1613) was an Italian astronomer, cosmographer, and scientific instrument maker. He was a reader in

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...

during 1599–1612. Santucci was an astronomer and cosmographer to Grand Duke Ferdinand I (1549–1609) and later Cosimo II (1590–1621). An attentive observer of

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

s, most notably that of 1582, he published in 1611 the first edition of ''Trattato delle comete'', in which he argued that, contrary to the prevailing scientific opinion, comets were not atmospheric phenomena. The following year, he wrote ''Breve discorso sopra il trattato galileiano sulle galleggianti'' (which survives in manuscript at the

National Central Library The National Central Library (NCL; ) is the national library of Taiwan, located in Zhongzheng District, Taipei. It will soon have a subsidiary called Southern Branch of the National Central Library & National Repository Library. Mission T ...

). He also authored a treatise in 1593, commissioned by Ferdinand I, on the mathematical and surveying instruments in the Guardaroba Medicea collection. His monumental

armillary sphere An armillary sphere (variations are known as spherical astrolabe, armilla, or armil) is a model of objects in the sky (on the celestial sphere), consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centered on Earth or the Sun, that represent lines o ...

s are famous. One sphere, made in 1582 for King

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

, is now at the

Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (), or (), is a historical residence of the king of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up the valley ( road distance) from the town of El Escorial and about n ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

; the other, the most famous Santucci's Armillary Sphere, built in 1588–1593 for the Sala delle Matematiche in the

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery ( ; , ) is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of th ...

, is now at the

Museo Galileo Museo Galileo (formerly ''Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza''; Institute and Museum of the History of Science) is located in Florence, Italy, in Piazza dei Giudici, along the River Arno and close to the Uffizi Gallery. The museum, dedicat ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

.Meucci, Ferdinando. La sfera armillare di Tolomeo. Tipografia del Vocabolario, 1876.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Santucci, Antonio Italian scientific instrument makers Academic staff of the University of Pisa 17th-century Italian astronomers Italian astronomers Astronomical instrument makers