The first exhibition in Italy to be dedicated exclusively to the theme, this offers a fascinating insight into both the history of art and the history of science. Curated by Marica Milanesi and Rudolf Schmidt, the exhibition includes some 142 works from the Museo Correr, the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana and various prestigious private collections; one of these latter is the important collection put together by Rudolf Schmidt himself, a member of the Internationale Coronelli – Gesellschaft fuer Globen – und Instrumentenkunde (International Coronelli Society for the Study of Globes and Scientific Instruments).

One of the high points of the show is the result of an exceptional discovery made within the Correr collection by Marisa Milanesi: the world’s only extant mounted example of a rare and precious sixteenth-century globe by the cartographer Livio Sanudo (1520-1576), which had previously been thought to have been lost. However, the main focus of the event is the Venetian friar Vincezo Coronelli (1650-1718), who was a geographer, cartographer, inventor and publisher, as well as being one of the most famous globemakers of the seventeenth century. Both scientific instruments and wondrously-constructed machines, his globes would adorn the libraries of monasteries, scholars and sovereigns – usually in pairs (one a celestial, one a terrestrial globe).

The exhibition layout includes other extraordinary examples of such globes, together with printed works and various scientific devices. It is further enhanced by the presence of multi-media material produced in collaboration with the CIRCE-IUAV (the software laboratories of Venice’s University Faculty of Architecture).

The show is being held in concomitance with the 11th Symposium of the Internationale Coronelli – Gesellschaft fuer Globen-und Instrumentenkunde (Venice, Ateneo Veneto, 28/29 September 2007).

Edited by Marica Milanesi and Rudolf Schmidt, the catalogue is published by Electa and has texts by Gianndomenico Romanelli, Marica Milanesi, Rudolf Schmidt and Camillo Tonini.