Ostrich Egg Globe

The Ostrich Egg Globe is a hollow terrestrial globe made from the conjoined lower halves of two ostrich eggs.[1] The owner of the globe claims that it was made in the early 16th century and is the first globe to depict the New World (with North America only shown as small islands).[1][2] The carvings on the globe are similar to those on the Hunt–Lenox Globe, a red copper cast.[1]

Mundus Novus depicted on the globe

Provenance

The globe was offered for sale in 2012 at the London Map Fair held at the Royal Geographical Society.[1] Its similarity to the Lenox Globe was confirmed by the former president of the Coronelli Society, Professor Rudolf Schmidt, and confirmed by art expert Archduke Dr. Géza von Habsburg in 2013.[3]: 11, 15 

The owner of the globe, Stefaan Missinne, has written a book that argues that the globe was made by Leonardo da Vinci,[2] citing writings by Leonardo indicating a similar approach to making globe gores.[3]: 19 [lower-alpha 1] Cartographer Wouter Bracke states that Missine's book should be considered "a report on the author's research into the globe and [not] a final scientific and academic publication", and that Cambridge Scholars Publishing's lack of editorial board "clearly failed to guide the author in the preparation of his publication". Ultimately, Bracke states that more research is needed to conclude the question of the globe's age and provenance.[6]

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.[4][5]

Citations

  1. 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.
  2. Draxler, Breanna (19 August 2013). "Engraved Ostrich Egg Globe is Oldest to Depict the New World". Discover. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  3. Missinne, Stefaan (Fall 2013). "A Newly Discovered Early Sixteenth-Century Globe Engraved on an Ostrich Egg: The Earliest Surviving Globe Showing the New World" (PDF). The Portolan: Journal of the Washington Map Society (87): 8–24.
  4. 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.
  5. Davidson, M. H. (1997). Columbus Then and Now: A Life Re-examined. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, p. 417.
  6. Bracke, Wouter (2019). "The Da Vinci Globe by Stefaan Missinne" (PDF). Maps in History. 64 (64): 13–15.

Further reading
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