Antonio Zanchi, Abraham Teaching Astrology to the Egyptians

Circa 1665
Oil on canvas
Church of Santa Maria del Giulio

Perhaps "astrology," the term used in the painting's conventional title, would be less apt than "astronomy." The painting illustrates Josephus's remarks that while living among the Egyptians Abraham "delivered to them the science of Astronomy" (my italics).1 Further, the globe and calipers suggest an emphasis on fact and observation that would sit well with science-minded viewers of the 17th century.

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Photographed at the church by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

1 Flavius Josephus, Of the Antiquities of the Jews, I, viii, ¶2.