Museo Galileo
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Virtual Museum
Celestial globe
    • Setting:
      Room III
    • Author:
      Willem Jansz Blaeu
    • Date:
      published by Joan Blaeu after 1630
    • Materials:
      paper, wood
    • Dimensions:
      sphere diameter 680 mm, height 1110 mm, width 920 mm
    • Inventory:
      2697
    • Celestial globe (Inv. 2697)

This celestial globe is part of the undated series derived from the 1616 prototype. There is a portrait of the great cosmographer Tycho Brahe, Willem Jansz Blaeu's master. The star positions are shown for the year 1640. They include more than 300 for the southern hemisphere, added thanks to the observations by Frederik de Houtman. The constellations are depicted with the classical figures from which they derive their names. The languages used are Latin, Greek, and Arabic. The author also mentions three new stars that appeared in his day. Bears the production serial number 11. Paired with the terrestrial globe inv. 2698. Provenance: Medici collections.