T
he Biblioteca Capitolare in Verona has completed a comprehensive restoration of two globes by 18th century German mathematician, astronomer and cartographer Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr. After four months of meticulous conservation out of public view, the restored terrestrial globe and celestial globe are back on display as part of a new exhibition dedicated to the history of astronomical thought.
Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr was a scientific polymath. He spoke German, French, Italian and English, and translated astronomical treatises by the likes of Newton and Huygens, as well as writing his own works about astronomy and cartography. He was Professor of Mathematics at the Aegidien Gymnasium in Nuremberg from 1704 until his death in 1750, but in the 1710s developed an interest in globes. He quickly became the premier globe-maker in Germany, doing a brisk trade selling low-cost but finely-drawn and well-constructed globes. He developed a reputation for the accuracy of his maps, and for the wealth of information — detailed annotations, color-coded routes of major explorers — he added to them,
The celestial and terrestrial globes at the Capitular Library of Verona date to 1728 and 1730, respectively. The were made out of twelve gores (the pointed football-shaped strips of paper that are used to make flat paper wrap around a sphere), finely engraved and hand-colored on a core of papier-mâché and plaster. One is a map of the earth, the other a map of the celestial sky. They are both encircled by an engraved brass meridian with a stamped brass hour dial and pointer on top.
The [Gazing Toward the Sky: Reading the Universe Through Manuscripts and the Stars] exhibition takes shape through a dialogue between medieval manuscripts, ancient books, and scholarly instruments preserved by the Capitolare, all of which bear witness to a body of knowledge that, over the centuries, has interwoven astronomy, mathematics, religion, and philosophy. Since ancient times, in fact, observing the sky has been essential for navigating space, measuring time, and understanding the order of the universe.
* This article was originally published here
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