The astronomy

Astronomy — depicted as a woman with a celestial sphere or armillary instrument — belongs to the Liberal Arts programme of the Urbino studiolo that complemented the Famous Men cycle. Federico da Montefeltro's studiolo was an extraordinarily ambitious decorative programme: the intarsia woodwork on the lower walls gave way to painted figures above, creating a total environment embodying humanist learning. Justus van Gent's Astronomy figure was paired with Ptolemy, the Famous Man who had defined astronomical knowledge for the ancient world and whose portrait Justus produced for the same commission.

The Astronomy allegory holds an armillary sphere rendered with the same technical precision as the one given to Ptolemy in the companion panel, establishing a visual rhyme between the personification and the historical master of the discipline. The figure's robes are handled with Justus's characteristic Flemish layering, producing the deep colour saturation distinct from Italian tempera work.