such as the Angelus. His point of view on the Copernican system is not evident, but it was noted that the picture of the planetary system in his book about Venus has an empty centre. 42775 Bianchini, an asteroid, Craters on Mars and the Bianchini crater on the Moon are named in his honour. He also worked as a topographer and archaeologist of ancient Rome, and as a collector. In 1726, a structure (the columbarium of Livia) consisting of three sepulchral chambers of some of the servants and freedmen of Augustus and his wife Livia were discovered near the Via Appia, and excavated. Bianchini explored these rooms and published a description. In 1727, he fell through the ceiling of a vault while exploring the ruins of the palace of the Caesars on the Palatine Hill (Palace of Domitian), and was severely injured. He died in Rome on 2 March 1729, and was buried in Santa Maria Maggiore. A monument was raised to his memory in Verona Cathedral. Books He published many books, including: Storia universale, provata co' monumenti, e figurata co' simboli degli antichi (Rome, 1697 and 1747) De Calendario et Cyclo Caesaris (1703) De vitis romanorum pontificum a Petro Apost. ad Nicolaum I. 4 vol. (Rome, 1718–35) Camera Ed Inscrizioni Sepulcrali De' Liberti, Servi, ed Ufficiali della Casa di Augusto Scoperte nella Via Appia, ed illustrate Con le Annotazioni (Rome, 1727) Hesperi et Phosphori nova phaenomena sive observationes circa planetam Veneris (Rome, 1728), in which he asserted Venus to rotate in 24 days and 8 hours. Astronomicae et Geographicae Observationes Selectae (1737) (posthumously) Del Palazzo de Cesari Opera Postuma (Verona, 1738) (posthumously) De Tribus Generibus Instrumentorum Musicae Veterum Organicae (Rome, 1742) (posthumously) A treatise on the musical instruments of Greece and Rome. Opuscula Varia (1754) (posthumously). See also List of largest optical telescopes in the 18th century Notes References Further reading External links Kurzbeschreibung Hesperi et Phosphori nova phaenomena… Bianchini's Globe of Venus, 1727. Astronomical Museum Museo della Specola, Bologna 1662 births 1729 deaths Scientists from Verona 18th-century Italian astronomers 17th-century Italian astronomers Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the French Academy of Sciences Italian archaeologists