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Auction archive: Lot number 179

AFTER MERCATOR, Gerardus (1512-1594) and Caspar VOPEL (1511-1561).

Estimate
£300,000 - £500,000
ca. US$368,949 - US$614,915
Price realised:
n. a.
Auction archive: Lot number 179

AFTER MERCATOR, Gerardus (1512-1594) and Caspar VOPEL (1511-1561).

Estimate
£300,000 - £500,000
ca. US$368,949 - US$614,915
Price realised:
n. a.
Beschreibung:

Details
AFTER MERCATOR, Gerardus (1512-1594) and Caspar VOPEL (1511-1561).
THE OLDEST SURVIVING ITALIAN GLOBES
A pair of terrestrial and celestial globes, probably made by Giacomo Gastaldi (c.1500-1566) in northern Italy, circa 1560. 111⁄2-inch (29 cm) globes supported in later meridian rings sitting in 19th century walnut and oak stands with restorations and manuscript paper horizon rings applied, previous ownership labels to undersides; each globe comprised of twelve hand-coloured engraved gores, with engraved cartouches, the terrestrial (overpainted with the arms of Visconti, revealed under infra-red reflectography): A SERENISSIMVM EMANVELEM PHI LIBERTVM Sabau diensium & Subal pinoru Duc? and the celestial blank.
The Terrestrial:
The globe labelled mainly in Latin, with some Italian and occasional Spanish words, the seas stippled and decorated with numerous creatures, seven sailing vessels and three oared galleys, the land showing mountains and rivers, covered profusely with names, those of cities in densely populated Europe substituted with a number with explanatory key in panel situated in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, the landmasses decorated with representations of various peoples and numerous animals, including an opossum in South America, two buffalo in North America, an ostrich and camels in Asia, and Africa with lions, elephants and mythical creatures such a griffin. The cartography is based on Gerardus Mercator’s larger 1541 terrestrial globe, but Mercator’s imprint has been replaced by the dedication to Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Savoy and Piedmont (see above), and with many elements updated and closely resembling the cartography of Giacomo Gastaldi’s large world map of 1561; Asia and America are separated by a wide sea, named Golfo de Cheinan, both North and South America labelled AMERICA in very large letters, with the letters AME lying in North America and RICA in southern South America, the southern continent marked QVINTA. The globe with engraved lines of latitude every 10° and longitude every 15°, the graduated equator 0-360° numbered every 15° (though some numbers are missing or not visible) and alternately shaded every 1° and labelled: [EQ]UINOCTALIS CIRCULUS; the Prime Meridian passing through Fuerteventura (eastern Canaries) graduated 0-180°, numbered to the east every 10°, alternately shaded every 1°, to the west of the Prime Meridian are three columns of numbers, labelled paralleli (1 to 36, ending at N 78°), Climata (1 to 18, ending at N 73°) and Hore (1 to 17, ending at N 54°, division 1⁄2), the frigid, temperate and torrid zones are indicated in the Northern Atlantic by the words peris, heteros and amphiscii, the ecliptic, labelled ZODICUS, is visible as a thin black line, not graduated, but with irregular faint division markers, lines of the Circulus Arcticus, TROPJVS CANCRJ, TROPJVUS CAPRJORNJ and Circulus Antarcticus all with double line infilled with gilt, and all labelled, the place of the presumed magnetic pole is indicated at L 60°, N 85° and labelled: Maqne[t]u[m] Y.
The Celestial:
The globe in Latin, and with the astronomy almost an exact match of Caspar Vopel’s celestial globe of 1536 (Cologne, Kölnisches Stadtmuseum). Coordinates: circles of latitude every 30° (gore edges). The ecliptic is graduated [twelve times 0-30°; numbered every 10°] alternately shaded every 1°. The boundaries of the zodiac are indicated by two parallels north and south to the ecliptic. The symbols of the zodiacal signs are marked north of the zodiacal constellations. The equator is graduated [0–360°, numbered every 10°] alternately shaded every 1° and labelled: ÆQVATOR. The tropics are drawn and labelled TROPICVS CANCRI and TROPICVS CAPRICO. The polar circles are labelled CIRCVLVS ARCTICVS and CIRCVLVS ANTARCTICVS. Around the South Pole are two incomplete labels: one for the winter solstitial colure: SOLSTITIO and another for the vernal equinoctial colure: COLVRVS. Outside the constellations most circles are covered by paint. 46 of 48 Ptolemaic constellations are drawn and labelled: VRSA MAIOR, DRACO, CEPHEVS, BOOTES, CORONA, HERCVLES, LYRA, CYGNVS, CASSIEPEIA, PERSEVS, ERICHTHONIVS, SERPENTARIVS, SERPENS, TELVM, AQVILA, DELPHINVS, EQVICVLVS, PEGASVS, ANDROMEDA, DELTOTON, ARIES, TAVRVS, GEMINI, , LEO, VIRGO, LIBRA, SCORPIVS, SAGITTARIVS, CAPRICORNVS, AQVARIVS, PISCES, CETVS, ORION, ERIDANVS, LEPVS, CANIS MAIOR, PROCYON, ARGO NAVIS, HYDRA, CRATER, CORVVS, CENTAVRVS, FERA, ARA, CORONA AVSTR, NOTIVS PISOIS; Ursa Minor, Cancer, and the Hyades in Taurus drawn but without labels, these possibly overpainted. There is a table in front of Ursa Maior, lacking its title, though possibly overpainted [Stella(rum) magnitudines], with magnitudes from 1 to 6. Only five stars are labelled: ARCTVRVS (a Boo), SPICA (a Vir), CANOPVS (a Car), HIRCVS (a Aur) and ACARNAR (? Eri). The style follows that of Dürer but with a number of variations: a cart pulled by horses in the body and tail of Ursa Maior; the goat kids in Auriga; six tiny female heads illustrating the Pleiades in Taurus; the two Asses in Cancer illustrating the Asini; and Lyra as a bird with a stringed instrument horizontally over its body. Boötes has a lance, a sickle and hunting dogs placed to the right of the figure, and a goat is eating the leaves of a vine above his head. One of the Gemini has a lyre or a similar instrument with bow, and there are images of Antinous and Coma Berenices, comprising the unformed stars belonging to Aquila and Leo, respectively. In addition to the 1536 globe, the image of a young man representing Phaeton appears at the end of Eridanus. The cartouche south of the tail of Cetus (lon 345°, lat?-60°) is blank, consisting of a rectangular field with decorative border in the Mannerist style.
An extraordinary Renaissance survival, this pair of globes are the oldest extant printed Italian globes, representing an important blend of northern and southern European cartographic traditions, with the terrestrial globe documenting contemporary geographical knowledge of the mid-sixteenth century.
The terrestrial globe is based on Mercator’s 1541 42cm terrestrial globe (Shirley World 78), but with some important cartographic modifications and changes in toponyms. These latter closely correspond with those found on Caspar Gastaldi’s large nine-sheet world map of 1561 (Shirley World 107). One of the major changes from Mercator is the lack of loxodromes on the present globe; it also lacks numerous names of peoples and tribes that are listed on Mercator’s globe, and the sea- and land-creatures differ.
The most significant geographical changes can be found almost at the extreme poles, with Greenland and North America being joined on Mercator’s globe, but here found separated by a narrow strait, while on the Southern Continent, Mercator has a large peninsula extending northwards well beyond the Tropic of Capricorn, whereas on the present globe this peninsula terminates well to the south of the Tropic.
The present terrestrial globe also shows major geographical updates that can only have come from the accounts of mid-16th century exploration published after 1541. In North America, the south-west now has a river system and many new place names on the north-west coast, areas previously left blank on Mercator’s globe. These reflect Francisco Vasquez de Coronado’s expedition through Kansas and New Mexico in 1540-1542, and Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo’s maritime expedition along the Californian coast in 1543-1543.
In South America, the Amazon River system is now shown as consequence of Francisco de Orellana’s descent of the Amazon in 1541-1542, and much more information of the west coast and interior south of 10°S is depicted, presumably as a consequence of further Spanish exploration, such as that undertaken by Pedro de Valdivia, who was granted the province of Chile in 1539.
Accounts of all these expeditions are given in Giovanni Batista Ramusio’s three-volume Navigationi e Viaggi (Venice, 1550-1559-1556), for which Giacomo Gastaldi (c. 1500-1566) prepared the accompanying maps.
Gastaldi himself was Piedmontese, and although practising his cartography in Venice, stressed his origins with a dedication on his 1559 map of the first part of Asia (Karrow 30⁄85.2) to Emanuele Filiberto, who ruled as Duke of Savoy and Piedmont from 1553-1580, signed: ‘Jacopo Gastaldi Piemontese cosmografo’. This is one countryman dedicating his cartographic achievements to another, and although working in Venice, Gastaldi is outwardly expressing his homeland connections.
It is therefore fascinating to note that cartouche on the present terrestrial globe, although currently overpainted with the arms of Visconti, when subject to infra-red reflectography reveals a dedication to Emanuele Filiberto. This suggests that Gastaldi was directly involved with the creation of the present globe, and, since Filiberto became Duke in 1553, gives a terminus a quo.
Establishing a terminus ante quem is more difficult. Gastaldi’s knowledge of the latest contemporary advances in European exploration in other parts of the globe presumably underpinned his large world map of 1561; and the present globe certainly shares many of that map’s features. However, on the globe, the mouth of the St Lawrence River in Canada is only partially shown, but it does appear in a much fuller form on the 1561 world map; and Mercator’s 1541 delineation of California remains on the present globe, whereas Gastaldi’s world map shows the addition of the peninsula of Southern California. So it is possible the globe predates the world map of 1561.
The Museo Astronomico e Copernicano di Roma owns a terrestrial globe that is almost identical to the present globe. It was originally one of a pair that were a very close match to the present lot. Unfortunately, the Rome globes were stolen in May 1984, and only the terrestrial was later recovered. This Rome globe shows a much more developed peninsula of Southern California. This suggests the Rome terrestrial is of a slightly later date, being a variant of the present globe.
On balance, it seems probable that the terrestrial globe was produced sometime around 1560.
The celestial globe is a near-exact copy of Caspar Vopel’s celestial globe of 1536, with the important addition of the figure of Phaeton at the end of the constellation of Eridanus. This figure is not found on the Vopel globe, but does appear on the gores for a 9cm celestial globe by François Demongenet (d. before 1592) made c.1560. Demongenet first made a set of woodcut celestial gores in this diameter in 1552, and adopted the iconography of Petrus Apianus (1495-1552), with figure of Boötes with hounds, and a female figure for Phaeton (planisphere in Astronomicum Caesareum, 1540).
The circulation of Demongenet’s work, originally published in Vesoul in Eastern France, was very wide. Famously, it was the source for many of the extremely ?ne silver and gilt brass globes made in the latter part of the 16th century, particularly in Southern Germany (e.g. see Christie’s 12 July 2017, lot 199). However, these globes are normally similar in size to the small gores, and it is unusual for a small globe to act as the inspiration for a larger-diameter one, with the reverse normally being true. This opens up the possibility that the present globe was made prior to Demongenet’s celestial, and was in fact its inspiration.
Further evidence for this is provided by the fact that by 1560, a new version of Demongenet’s celestial gores was being copper-engraved and printed in Venice. These adopted a radical and innovative change, replacing the female figure at the end of Eridanus for a male Phaeton, using the exact iconography of the present globe. In fact, this Phaeton figure is unique only to the Demongenet Venetian-published gores, and the present globe.
On the other hand, the 1560 Demongenet gores still do not adopt Vopel’s constellation of Coma Berenices (although Vopel’s constellation of Antinous appears on both the 1552 and 1560 gores), Moreover, the Museo Astronomico e Copernicano di Roma (as described above), used to own a very similar celestial globe that was unfortunately stolen in May 1984, and has not been recovered. Photographs and descriptions of it reveal that it contained a dedication to a member of the illustrious Boncampagnis family of Bologna, which might date it to the 1570s-1580s. No such dedication appears on the present celestial.
The present globe is the same size as the 1536 Vopel globe, but although it is a near-slavish copy, there are a number of small, but distinguishable differences, including the changing of long ‘s’ lettering in Vopel’s globe to short ‘s’ on the present globe, and the latter’s omission of the identifying cartouche above Auriga, as well as the lack of many of the star names that featured on Vopel’s Globe. It is the inclusion of the figure of Phaeton that really sets this globe apart from its antecedent.
Unfortunately, the question of whether Demongenet’s globe or the present celestial has priority is currently unanswerable. It seems possible that it was produced, like the terrestrial, sometime around 1560.
The importance of this pair of globes, however, is that they demonstrate the European-wide circulation of geographical and astronomical knowledge both North and South of the Alps in the late Renaissance.
Provenance
By tradition, Paolo Giovio, thence by descent within the family (according to a label on the base)
Emanuele de Rosales (b.1873; the IX Marchese di Castelleone), his inventory number #497, circa 1930.
Acquired by an American collector through the Milanese dealer Eugenio Imbert, circa 1950.
Manhattan Galleries, New York City, lot 170A, 10 February 1982.
Whence acquired by the present owner.
Literature
Cigalini, Ramiro de Ordono de Rosales. Le Famiglie Ordono de Rosales, Cigalini, Della Torre de Rezzonico. Milan: 1928.
Dekker, Elly. ‘Caspar Vopel’s ventures in sixteenth-century celestial cartography’ In Imago Mundi, 62⁄21. Lympne: International Society for the History of Cartography 2010.
Karrow, Robert. W. Mapmakers of the Sixteenth Century and their Maps. Chicago: 1993.
Shirley, Rodney W. The Mapping of the World. London: 1983.
Stevenson, Edward Luther. Terrestrial and Celestial Globes. Reprint. New York: 1971.
Sykes, James. ‘A pair of unrecorded globes from the second half of the 16th century’ in Globe Studies. 61⁄62, pp.139-164, Vienna: International Coronelli Society, 2016. See also https://www.giovioglobes.com/
Van der Krogt, Peter. Globi Neerlandici. The production of globes in the Low Countries. Utrecht: 1993.
Woodward, David. ‘The Italian Map Trade, 1480–1650’ in The History of Cartography, 3⁄1. Pp. 779-791. Chicago: 2007.
Special notice
This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Auction archive: Lot number 179
Auction:
Datum:
13 Jul 2022
Auction house:
Christie's
King Street, St. James's 8
London, SW1Y 6QT
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7839 9060
+44 (0)20 73892869
Beschreibung:

Details
AFTER MERCATOR, Gerardus (1512-1594) and Caspar VOPEL (1511-1561).
THE OLDEST SURVIVING ITALIAN GLOBES
A pair of terrestrial and celestial globes, probably made by Giacomo Gastaldi (c.1500-1566) in northern Italy, circa 1560. 111⁄2-inch (29 cm) globes supported in later meridian rings sitting in 19th century walnut and oak stands with restorations and manuscript paper horizon rings applied, previous ownership labels to undersides; each globe comprised of twelve hand-coloured engraved gores, with engraved cartouches, the terrestrial (overpainted with the arms of Visconti, revealed under infra-red reflectography): A SERENISSIMVM EMANVELEM PHI LIBERTVM Sabau diensium & Subal pinoru Duc? and the celestial blank.
The Terrestrial:
The globe labelled mainly in Latin, with some Italian and occasional Spanish words, the seas stippled and decorated with numerous creatures, seven sailing vessels and three oared galleys, the land showing mountains and rivers, covered profusely with names, those of cities in densely populated Europe substituted with a number with explanatory key in panel situated in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, the landmasses decorated with representations of various peoples and numerous animals, including an opossum in South America, two buffalo in North America, an ostrich and camels in Asia, and Africa with lions, elephants and mythical creatures such a griffin. The cartography is based on Gerardus Mercator’s larger 1541 terrestrial globe, but Mercator’s imprint has been replaced by the dedication to Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Savoy and Piedmont (see above), and with many elements updated and closely resembling the cartography of Giacomo Gastaldi’s large world map of 1561; Asia and America are separated by a wide sea, named Golfo de Cheinan, both North and South America labelled AMERICA in very large letters, with the letters AME lying in North America and RICA in southern South America, the southern continent marked QVINTA. The globe with engraved lines of latitude every 10° and longitude every 15°, the graduated equator 0-360° numbered every 15° (though some numbers are missing or not visible) and alternately shaded every 1° and labelled: [EQ]UINOCTALIS CIRCULUS; the Prime Meridian passing through Fuerteventura (eastern Canaries) graduated 0-180°, numbered to the east every 10°, alternately shaded every 1°, to the west of the Prime Meridian are three columns of numbers, labelled paralleli (1 to 36, ending at N 78°), Climata (1 to 18, ending at N 73°) and Hore (1 to 17, ending at N 54°, division 1⁄2), the frigid, temperate and torrid zones are indicated in the Northern Atlantic by the words peris, heteros and amphiscii, the ecliptic, labelled ZODICUS, is visible as a thin black line, not graduated, but with irregular faint division markers, lines of the Circulus Arcticus, TROPJVS CANCRJ, TROPJVUS CAPRJORNJ and Circulus Antarcticus all with double line infilled with gilt, and all labelled, the place of the presumed magnetic pole is indicated at L 60°, N 85° and labelled: Maqne[t]u[m] Y.
The Celestial:
The globe in Latin, and with the astronomy almost an exact match of Caspar Vopel’s celestial globe of 1536 (Cologne, Kölnisches Stadtmuseum). Coordinates: circles of latitude every 30° (gore edges). The ecliptic is graduated [twelve times 0-30°; numbered every 10°] alternately shaded every 1°. The boundaries of the zodiac are indicated by two parallels north and south to the ecliptic. The symbols of the zodiacal signs are marked north of the zodiacal constellations. The equator is graduated [0–360°, numbered every 10°] alternately shaded every 1° and labelled: ÆQVATOR. The tropics are drawn and labelled TROPICVS CANCRI and TROPICVS CAPRICO. The polar circles are labelled CIRCVLVS ARCTICVS and CIRCVLVS ANTARCTICVS. Around the South Pole are two incomplete labels: one for the winter solstitial colure: SOLSTITIO and another for the vernal equinoctial colure: COLVRVS. Outside the constellations most circles are covered by paint. 46 of 48 Ptolemaic constellations are drawn and labelled: VRSA MAIOR, DRACO, CEPHEVS, BOOTES, CORONA, HERCVLES, LYRA, CYGNVS, CASSIEPEIA, PERSEVS, ERICHTHONIVS, SERPENTARIVS, SERPENS, TELVM, AQVILA, DELPHINVS, EQVICVLVS, PEGASVS, ANDROMEDA, DELTOTON, ARIES, TAVRVS, GEMINI, , LEO, VIRGO, LIBRA, SCORPIVS, SAGITTARIVS, CAPRICORNVS, AQVARIVS, PISCES, CETVS, ORION, ERIDANVS, LEPVS, CANIS MAIOR, PROCYON, ARGO NAVIS, HYDRA, CRATER, CORVVS, CENTAVRVS, FERA, ARA, CORONA AVSTR, NOTIVS PISOIS; Ursa Minor, Cancer, and the Hyades in Taurus drawn but without labels, these possibly overpainted. There is a table in front of Ursa Maior, lacking its title, though possibly overpainted [Stella(rum) magnitudines], with magnitudes from 1 to 6. Only five stars are labelled: ARCTVRVS (a Boo), SPICA (a Vir), CANOPVS (a Car), HIRCVS (a Aur) and ACARNAR (? Eri). The style follows that of Dürer but with a number of variations: a cart pulled by horses in the body and tail of Ursa Maior; the goat kids in Auriga; six tiny female heads illustrating the Pleiades in Taurus; the two Asses in Cancer illustrating the Asini; and Lyra as a bird with a stringed instrument horizontally over its body. Boötes has a lance, a sickle and hunting dogs placed to the right of the figure, and a goat is eating the leaves of a vine above his head. One of the Gemini has a lyre or a similar instrument with bow, and there are images of Antinous and Coma Berenices, comprising the unformed stars belonging to Aquila and Leo, respectively. In addition to the 1536 globe, the image of a young man representing Phaeton appears at the end of Eridanus. The cartouche south of the tail of Cetus (lon 345°, lat?-60°) is blank, consisting of a rectangular field with decorative border in the Mannerist style.
An extraordinary Renaissance survival, this pair of globes are the oldest extant printed Italian globes, representing an important blend of northern and southern European cartographic traditions, with the terrestrial globe documenting contemporary geographical knowledge of the mid-sixteenth century.
The terrestrial globe is based on Mercator’s 1541 42cm terrestrial globe (Shirley World 78), but with some important cartographic modifications and changes in toponyms. These latter closely correspond with those found on Caspar Gastaldi’s large nine-sheet world map of 1561 (Shirley World 107). One of the major changes from Mercator is the lack of loxodromes on the present globe; it also lacks numerous names of peoples and tribes that are listed on Mercator’s globe, and the sea- and land-creatures differ.
The most significant geographical changes can be found almost at the extreme poles, with Greenland and North America being joined on Mercator’s globe, but here found separated by a narrow strait, while on the Southern Continent, Mercator has a large peninsula extending northwards well beyond the Tropic of Capricorn, whereas on the present globe this peninsula terminates well to the south of the Tropic.
The present terrestrial globe also shows major geographical updates that can only have come from the accounts of mid-16th century exploration published after 1541. In North America, the south-west now has a river system and many new place names on the north-west coast, areas previously left blank on Mercator’s globe. These reflect Francisco Vasquez de Coronado’s expedition through Kansas and New Mexico in 1540-1542, and Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo’s maritime expedition along the Californian coast in 1543-1543.
In South America, the Amazon River system is now shown as consequence of Francisco de Orellana’s descent of the Amazon in 1541-1542, and much more information of the west coast and interior south of 10°S is depicted, presumably as a consequence of further Spanish exploration, such as that undertaken by Pedro de Valdivia, who was granted the province of Chile in 1539.
Accounts of all these expeditions are given in Giovanni Batista Ramusio’s three-volume Navigationi e Viaggi (Venice, 1550-1559-1556), for which Giacomo Gastaldi (c. 1500-1566) prepared the accompanying maps.
Gastaldi himself was Piedmontese, and although practising his cartography in Venice, stressed his origins with a dedication on his 1559 map of the first part of Asia (Karrow 30⁄85.2) to Emanuele Filiberto, who ruled as Duke of Savoy and Piedmont from 1553-1580, signed: ‘Jacopo Gastaldi Piemontese cosmografo’. This is one countryman dedicating his cartographic achievements to another, and although working in Venice, Gastaldi is outwardly expressing his homeland connections.
It is therefore fascinating to note that cartouche on the present terrestrial globe, although currently overpainted with the arms of Visconti, when subject to infra-red reflectography reveals a dedication to Emanuele Filiberto. This suggests that Gastaldi was directly involved with the creation of the present globe, and, since Filiberto became Duke in 1553, gives a terminus a quo.
Establishing a terminus ante quem is more difficult. Gastaldi’s knowledge of the latest contemporary advances in European exploration in other parts of the globe presumably underpinned his large world map of 1561; and the present globe certainly shares many of that map’s features. However, on the globe, the mouth of the St Lawrence River in Canada is only partially shown, but it does appear in a much fuller form on the 1561 world map; and Mercator’s 1541 delineation of California remains on the present globe, whereas Gastaldi’s world map shows the addition of the peninsula of Southern California. So it is possible the globe predates the world map of 1561.
The Museo Astronomico e Copernicano di Roma owns a terrestrial globe that is almost identical to the present globe. It was originally one of a pair that were a very close match to the present lot. Unfortunately, the Rome globes were stolen in May 1984, and only the terrestrial was later recovered. This Rome globe shows a much more developed peninsula of Southern California. This suggests the Rome terrestrial is of a slightly later date, being a variant of the present globe.
On balance, it seems probable that the terrestrial globe was produced sometime around 1560.
The celestial globe is a near-exact copy of Caspar Vopel’s celestial globe of 1536, with the important addition of the figure of Phaeton at the end of the constellation of Eridanus. This figure is not found on the Vopel globe, but does appear on the gores for a 9cm celestial globe by François Demongenet (d. before 1592) made c.1560. Demongenet first made a set of woodcut celestial gores in this diameter in 1552, and adopted the iconography of Petrus Apianus (1495-1552), with figure of Boötes with hounds, and a female figure for Phaeton (planisphere in Astronomicum Caesareum, 1540).
The circulation of Demongenet’s work, originally published in Vesoul in Eastern France, was very wide. Famously, it was the source for many of the extremely ?ne silver and gilt brass globes made in the latter part of the 16th century, particularly in Southern Germany (e.g. see Christie’s 12 July 2017, lot 199). However, these globes are normally similar in size to the small gores, and it is unusual for a small globe to act as the inspiration for a larger-diameter one, with the reverse normally being true. This opens up the possibility that the present globe was made prior to Demongenet’s celestial, and was in fact its inspiration.
Further evidence for this is provided by the fact that by 1560, a new version of Demongenet’s celestial gores was being copper-engraved and printed in Venice. These adopted a radical and innovative change, replacing the female figure at the end of Eridanus for a male Phaeton, using the exact iconography of the present globe. In fact, this Phaeton figure is unique only to the Demongenet Venetian-published gores, and the present globe.
On the other hand, the 1560 Demongenet gores still do not adopt Vopel’s constellation of Coma Berenices (although Vopel’s constellation of Antinous appears on both the 1552 and 1560 gores), Moreover, the Museo Astronomico e Copernicano di Roma (as described above), used to own a very similar celestial globe that was unfortunately stolen in May 1984, and has not been recovered. Photographs and descriptions of it reveal that it contained a dedication to a member of the illustrious Boncampagnis family of Bologna, which might date it to the 1570s-1580s. No such dedication appears on the present celestial.
The present globe is the same size as the 1536 Vopel globe, but although it is a near-slavish copy, there are a number of small, but distinguishable differences, including the changing of long ‘s’ lettering in Vopel’s globe to short ‘s’ on the present globe, and the latter’s omission of the identifying cartouche above Auriga, as well as the lack of many of the star names that featured on Vopel’s Globe. It is the inclusion of the figure of Phaeton that really sets this globe apart from its antecedent.
Unfortunately, the question of whether Demongenet’s globe or the present celestial has priority is currently unanswerable. It seems possible that it was produced, like the terrestrial, sometime around 1560.
The importance of this pair of globes, however, is that they demonstrate the European-wide circulation of geographical and astronomical knowledge both North and South of the Alps in the late Renaissance.
Provenance
By tradition, Paolo Giovio, thence by descent within the family (according to a label on the base)
Emanuele de Rosales (b.1873; the IX Marchese di Castelleone), his inventory number #497, circa 1930.
Acquired by an American collector through the Milanese dealer Eugenio Imbert, circa 1950.
Manhattan Galleries, New York City, lot 170A, 10 February 1982.
Whence acquired by the present owner.
Literature
Cigalini, Ramiro de Ordono de Rosales. Le Famiglie Ordono de Rosales, Cigalini, Della Torre de Rezzonico. Milan: 1928.
Dekker, Elly. ‘Caspar Vopel’s ventures in sixteenth-century celestial cartography’ In Imago Mundi, 62⁄21. Lympne: International Society for the History of Cartography 2010.
Karrow, Robert. W. Mapmakers of the Sixteenth Century and their Maps. Chicago: 1993.
Shirley, Rodney W. The Mapping of the World. London: 1983.
Stevenson, Edward Luther. Terrestrial and Celestial Globes. Reprint. New York: 1971.
Sykes, James. ‘A pair of unrecorded globes from the second half of the 16th century’ in Globe Studies. 61⁄62, pp.139-164, Vienna: International Coronelli Society, 2016. See also https://www.giovioglobes.com/
Van der Krogt, Peter. Globi Neerlandici. The production of globes in the Low Countries. Utrecht: 1993.
Woodward, David. ‘The Italian Map Trade, 1480–1650’ in The History of Cartography, 3⁄1. Pp. 779-791. Chicago: 2007.
Special notice
This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Auction archive: Lot number 179
Auction:
Datum:
13 Jul 2022
Auction house:
Christie's
King Street, St. James's 8
London, SW1Y 6QT
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7839 9060
+44 (0)20 73892869
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