Terrestrial globe | 3D

Created between 1714 and 1715 by the Benedictine monk Silvestro Amanzio Moroncelli, the terrestrial globe was conceived as the counterpart to the celestial globe, forming a pair of instruments for the study of cosmography. It depicts the world according to early eighteenth-century geographical knowledge: continents, seas, navigation routes, and place names reflect the age of exploration and expanding trade networks. Beyond its scientific and educational function, the object also held a celebratory role, bearing the Baldelli family crest and a handwritten dedication, signs of patronage and prestige. Made from a wooden sphere covered with printed and hand-colored paper, the globe combines cartographic accuracy, craftsmanship, and scholarly culture, offering a historical vision of how the world was understood at the dawn of the modern age.

Silvestro Amanzio Moroncelli, 1714–1715
Printed paper applied to a spherical support; wooden structure
Height 150 cm, diameter 80 cm
MAEC – Museo dell’Accademia Etrusca e della Città di Cortona