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{{see also|Erdapfel}}
{{see also|Erdapfel}}


Stefaan Missinne shows evidence that [[Leonardo da Vinci]]’s drawing of a hitherto unknown map of the world depicting the coast of Brazil was a 1503 preparatory drawing for the da Vinci Globe<ref>Missinne Stefaan, Verhoeven Geert, Leonardo Depicted America: Misread as the Moon, Advances in Historical Studies, Vol. 8 No. 4, 2019.</ref>{{efn|In 1503, Italian explorer [[Amerigo Vespucci]] wrote a letter to [[Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco]], in which he declares that the landmass discovered by [[Christopher Columbus]] could be considered a hitherto unknown continent.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fernández-Armesto|first=Felipe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j9khjlWQPWUC&PA73|title=Amerigo: The Man Who Gave His Name to America|publisher=Random House|year=2007|isbn=978-1-4000-6281-2|location=New York|pages=73|language=en}}</ref><ref>Davidson, M. H. (1997). ''Columbus Then and Now: A Life Re-examined. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press'', p. 417.</ref>}}. This seems to indicate that Leonardo knew of [[Christopher Columbus]]'s discovery of America. The da Vinci Globe, dating from 1504, is the first extant globe to depict the New World<ref name=":1" />
Stefaan Missinne shows evidence that [[Leonardo da Vinci]]’s drawing of a hitherto unknown map of the world depicting the coast of [[Brazil]] was a 1503 preparatory drawing for the da Vinci Globe<ref>Missinne Stefaan, Verhoeven Geert, Leonardo Depicted America: Misread as the Moon, Advances in Historical Studies, Vol. 8 No. 4, 2019.</ref>{{efn|In 1503, Italian explorer [[Amerigo Vespucci]] wrote a letter to [[Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco]], in which he declares that the landmass discovered by [[Christopher Columbus]] could be considered a hitherto unknown continent.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fernández-Armesto|first=Felipe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j9khjlWQPWUC&PA73|title=Amerigo: The Man Who Gave His Name to America|publisher=Random House|year=2007|isbn=978-1-4000-6281-2|location=New York|pages=73|language=en}}</ref><ref>Davidson, M. H. (1997). ''Columbus Then and Now: A Life Re-examined. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press'', p. 417.</ref>}}. This seems to indicate that Leonardo knew of [[Christopher Columbus]]'s discovery of America. The da Vinci Globe, dating from 1504, is the first extant globe to depict the New World<ref name=":1" />


== Description ==
== Description ==

Revision as of 22:23, 15 June 2021

File:Front of the Da Vinci Globe.jpg
Mundus Novus depicted on the Da Vinci Globe

The Da Vinci Globe, also known as the Ostrich Egg Globe,[1] is an Italian Renaissance object of historical importance, possibly designed by Leonardo da Vinci. It dates from about 1504 and is the first known globe to depict the New World. It is the prototype for the Hunt–Lenox Globe, a red copper cast.

Background

See also: Erdapfel

Stefaan Missinne shows evidence that Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing of a hitherto unknown map of the world depicting the coast of Brazil was a 1503 preparatory drawing for the da Vinci Globe[2][a]. This seems to indicate that Leonardo knew of Christopher Columbus's discovery of America. The da Vinci Globe, dating from 1504, is the first extant globe to depict the New World[5]

Description

The hollow globe is made from the conjoined lower halves of two ostrich eggs.[5] In the bottom half of the lower part a counterweight made of calcium and glued with egg white was added to keep the globe upright as the globe has no mounting.[6]

The scale of the globe is 1:80,000,000 and its diameter is about 11.2 cm. It weighs 134 grams. The North–South axis is vertical, reflecting the thinking of Aristotle.[7] The globe's twin, the Hunt-Lenox Globe (at the New York Public Library), is a cast made of red copper[5] representing the Earth in the center of an armillary sphere.

The Ostrich Egg Globe depicts numerous subjects, including ships, a volcano, sailors, a monster, ocean waves, conic mountains, rivers, coastal lines, and a triangular anagram.[8]

Discovery and provenance

The globe was offered for sale in 2012 at the London Map Fair held at the Royal Geographical Society.[5] Its similarity to the Lenox Globe was confirmed in 2012 by the former president of the Coronelli Society, Professor Rudolf Schmidt, and confirmed by art expert Archduke Dr. Géza von Habsburg in 2013.[9] In August 2012, Discover published one of the first popular general articles about the globe.[10]

Leonardo writes: "El mio mappamondo che ha Giovanni Benci" ("My world globe that Giovanni Benci has") in the Codex Atlanticus in Milan, page 331 recto, dating from 1504.[1][b]

Analysis by Italian researcher Elisabetta Gnignera finds that the hairstyle of a drowning marine depicted in an engraving are compatible with the date and provenance of the globe.[11] Leonardo owned this codex, and it is the only known manuscript with annotations by him.[12]

On the globe's lower half, there is a red copper droplet that contains arsenic, a chemical substance only known to be prescribed by Leonardo, to be added to copper to maintain its red color[13][c] Visual observation of photographs of the Lenox Globe seems to support this as it does not display any green or black patina, which is normal for copper exposed to air.[15]

Art Reception

The latest research has shown that the Jagiellonian globe also known as the Globus Jagellonicus which dates from 1510 bears a striking resemblance to the Lenox and the da Vinci Globe. It has been attributed to the French Clockmaker Jean Coudray who appears to have copied an Italian Armillary Sphere based on a blueprint designed by Leonardo da Vinci[16]

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ In 1503, Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci wrote a letter to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco, in which he declares that the landmass discovered by Christopher Columbus could be considered a hitherto unknown continent.[3][4]
  2. ^ For maps Leonardo prefers the word "carta", and for a globular form or sphere he prefers "sfera", while for a terrestrial globe he uses "mappamondo".[citation needed] In the Codex Atlanticus, page 331 recto, Leonardo repeats the word "mappamondo" twice. This is repeated with some slight variation (as "mappamondo de' Benci") in his Codex Arundel, page 191 recto, also dating from 1504. The use of "mappamondo" is an Italian vernacular abbreviation for "palla d' mappamondo" or "world terrestrial globe", in brief: "globe".[citation needed]
  3. ^ Leonardo writes in Codex Atlanticus page 1103 verso: "Metti nella mistura il rame arso, ovvero la corrompi collo arsenico, ma sarà frangibile" ("Put the burnt copper into the mixture, or you corrupt it with arsenic, but it will be breakable").[14]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Jones, Josh (23 February 2021). "The Oldest Known Globe to Depict the New World Was Engraved on an Ostrich Egg, Maybe by Leondardo da Vinci (1504)". Open Culture. Retrieved 11 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ Missinne Stefaan, Verhoeven Geert, Leonardo Depicted America: Misread as the Moon, Advances in Historical Studies, Vol. 8 No. 4, 2019.
  3. ^ Fernández-Armesto, Felipe (2007). Amerigo: The Man Who Gave His Name to America. New York: Random House. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-4000-6281-2.
  4. ^ Davidson, M. H. (1997). Columbus Then and Now: A Life Re-examined. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, p. 417.
  5. ^ a b c d Kim, Meeri (19 August 2013). "Oldest globe to depict the New World may have been discovered". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  6. ^ Stefaan Missinne, The Da Vinci Globe, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018, p. 250.
  7. ^ Ibid., p. 129.
  8. ^ Stefaan Missinne, The Da Vinic Globe, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018, pp. 137-175.
  9. ^ Missinne, Stefaan (Fall 2013). "A Newly Discovered Early Sixteenth-Century Globe Engraved on an Ostrich Egg: The Earliest Surviving Globe Showing the New World". The Portolan: Journal of the Washington Map Society (87): 8–24.
  10. ^ B. Draxler, "Engraved Ostrich Egg Globe is Oldest to Depict the New World", in D-brief - DiscoverMagazine.com, August 2012, pp. 1–2 and J. Skurie.
  11. ^ Stefaan Missinne, The Da Vinic Globe, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018, p. 140.
  12. ^ Ibid., p. 160.
  13. ^ Ibid., p. 56 and p. 243.
  14. ^ Codex Atlanticus page 1103.
  15. ^ Ibid., p. 46.
  16. ^ Missinne, S. (2021) America’s Name Baptized on a Globe in 1510. Leonardo da Vinci’s Blueprint for the Jagiellonian Armillary Sphere Discovered. Advances in Historical Studies, 10, 93-133.

Further reading

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