Vincenzo Coronelli
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Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (August 16, 1650 - December 9, 1718) was a Franciscan monk, an Italian cosmographer, publisher and encyclopedist known in particular for his globes.
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[edit] Biography
Born in Venice, Coronelli became a Minorite Friar and doctor of Theology at the Collegium San Bonaventura in Rome.
In 1678 Coronelli created two globes for the Duke of Parma. These globes had a diameter of c. 175cm and were finely crafted. This drew the attention of the French ambassador, César d'Estrées, who subsequently invited Coronelli to Paris. Coronelli moved to the French capital in 1681, where he lived for two years. Coronelli was commissioned by the cardinal d'Estrées to produce two globes, one of the earth, the other of the heavens, for king Louis XIV. These globes, measuring 384cm in diameter [1] and weighting approximately 2 tons, are displayed in the Bibliothèque nationale François Mitterrand in Paris.
Due to his renown he worked in various European countries in the following years, permanently returning to Venice in 1705. In Venice he started his own cosmographical project and published the volumes of Atlante Veneto. In his home city he founded the very first geographical society, the Accademia Cosmografica degli Argonauti. He also held the position of Cosmographer of the Republic of Venice. Later six volumes of the Biblioteca Universale Sacro-Profana were published by Coronelli. This was a kind of encyclopedia, its compiled entries were ordered alphabetically.
Coronelli died at the age of 68 in Vienna, having created hundreds of maps in his lifetime. Original globes by Coronelli are today located in several collections. Pairs of his most famous large (c. 110 cm diameter) globes are e.g. in the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice, in the National Library of Austria and in the Globe Museum in Vienna, in the library of Stift Melk, as well as in Trier, Prague, Paris, London, Washington D.C.. Having been restored and completed, another 1688 terrestrial globe is displayed at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.
The International Coronelli Society for the Study of Globes, founded 1952 in Vienna, is named in Coronelli's honour.
[edit] Bibliography
- Morea, Negroponte & Adiacenze (1686)
- Atlante Veneto (1691 - 1696)
- Ritratti de celebri Personaggi (1697)
- Lo Specchio del Mare (1698)
- Singolarità di Venezia (1708-1709)
- Roma antico-moderna (1716)
[edit] See also
- Coronellis globes
[edit] References
- ^ The diameter is of 487 cm with meridians and horizon circles
[edit] External links
- List of the works of Vincenzo Coronelli (1650-1718) at the Marciana National Library, Venice
- Picture of one of Coronelli's maps of the Kodon fortress, Greece, excellent quality
- Original technology 42 " diam. Coronelli globe
- Pictures of facsimiles of Coronelli's 1688 & 1693 terrestrial and celestial globes
