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The picture shows the Muse of astronomy weighing the two predominant ideas of the world against each other.
The Copernican, i.e. the correct, picture of the world, having the sun as its centre round which the earth with its moon and planets are moving, is weighed and found wanting. Carrying the greatest weight is Tycho Brahe's world picture where the sun and the moon are moving round the firm earth in the centre, while the planets are moving round the sun.
Lying on the ground is a tired Ptolemy together with his rejected world picture, having the earth as its firm centre.
The man to the left is the Greek mythical figure Argos with eyes all over his body, a symbol of the increase in visual power made possible by the newly invented telescope.
Above, the angels are carrying the respective planets, shown with the details revealed by means of the telescope, and at the top God's hand is pointing at the scientific watchword: numbers, measure, and weight.
Copperplate by G.B. Riccioli:
Almagestum novum (Bologna, 1651).
