Astronomical Volvelle

Two biscuits stacked on top of one another, designed to look like an early modern rotating diagram. The lower biscuit is circular and features a series of horizontal lines and tiny numbers in an early modern font. The top biscuit is roughly in the shape of boat: the 'mast' area reads 'zenith'; the main body of the shape features tiny figures in historical dress holding astronomical instruments and a Latin motto reading 'Nulla dies sine linea'.

Biscuit (cookie) flavour: Orange, cardamom, and vanilla

Decoration: Royal icing base. The design is painted by hand using food colouring gels and vodka.

Context: Inspired by a rotating diagram (known as a ‘volvelle’) in Sacrobosco’s De sphaera (c.1550). Diagrams like these were created to help early modern readers apply theoretical concepts to the world around them. The diagram recreated here is believed to have been used to calculate how long an hour lasted at different points during the calendar year.

This biscuit was created as part of a collaboration with Utah State University, drawing on USU’s Special Collections & Archives.