Terrestrial and celestial globes; their history and ... - 24grammata.com

Terrestrial and Celestial Globes.
Among the numerous and interesting
treasures to be
found in the Landesmuseum of Zurich is a terrestrial globe
(Fig. 80) having
neither name of maker nor date of con-
struction, but belonging, undoubtedly, to the late sixteenth
century.^^ The sphere has a diameter of about 121 cm., is
mounted on a substantial wooden base, and appears to have
been made for the monastery of St. Gall, from which place
it was taken to Ziirich in the year 1712. On the semicircular
arms which support the equatorial circle are represented
the armorial bearings of the abbey and monks of St. Gall,
and the date in gold, 1595, which may refer to the date of
construction or to the date when it was placed in the monas-
tery. On the equatorial circle one finds represented the signs
of the zodiac, the calendar, the names of the saints and of
the winds. On the heavy meridian circle are indicated the
climatic zones and the degrees of latitude. The prime merid-
ian is made to pass through the Azores Islands. The sphere
is of papier-mache and plaster, on which the engraved gores
are mounted. The seas have been colored green, the lands a
dull yellow, the mountain ranges brown. Numerous barbaric
kings are represented in picture, likewise numerous animals
of land and sea, and ships artistically drawn sail hither and
thither over the oceans. The austral continent is wanting.
Marcel especially notes the striking resemblance of the globe
map to the Mercator map of 1569, suggesting the possibility
of its Mercatorian origin, in support of which suggestion he
quotes a number of geographical
names as well as certain
legends. The globe, it appears, has never been critically
studied, but is clearly an interesting geographical monument
of the period.
in the latter half of the
The making of globe-goblets
sixteenth century and early seventeenth appears to have been
in response to a fashion especially pronounced in South Ger-
many, although
their construction was not limited to that
region. Not a few of such globes are extant, which are fine
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