Approaching slowly in silent anticipation, there it was waiting for me in the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice – Vincenzo Coronelli’s Terrestrial Globeundergoing conservation in the careful hands of a small team from Venice in Peril– and after introducing myself as a member I was let inside the cordoned off working area by one of the conservators, Laura, who kindly offered me a brief look at the tools used in the detailed work and, up close, a view of the globe itself.
Since my look at Coronelli’s globe (1689), the project finished a month later in June 2025. So, what a delight it was that I got to see my first Venice in Peril restoration project in progress which gives you a greater appreciation of the finished work and the people who make it happen. But this terrestrial globe is the second of Coronelli’s to be conserved. The companion Celestial Globe (1693) was completed in 2021 and is now in the Museo Correr.
Now that’s not all that made my visitation to see this terrestrial globe exciting. It reminded me of when, at age 10, one of my most cherished bedroom belongings was a small multi-coloured globe with its mid-20th century portrayal of the world at the time. It was an aid used a lot to go hand in hand with my stamp collecting hobby so I could look up the countries where the stamps came from. In my mind I discovered the world with the spin of a hand without having to leave my room.
Fast forward. To my great surprise didn’t I discover last year how Coronelli would have been thrilled to see, not only that his globes were being newly appreciated, enthralling to the modern eye through conservation – but that there was a new 21st century globe maker at work, who just so happened to have been in Venice showcasing his art at the Homo Faber Biennial 2024 craft fair hosted at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.
Enter Leonardo Frigo – a London based Italian artist and globe maker whose portfolio of work is outstanding, with all his globes hand made using the best sourced materials in wood, paper, paint, chalk and glue.
Leonardo’s journey began in Venice as he says on his website, and “in the craft of art, history is my compass.”
Leonardo cites Vincenzo Coronelli’s 17th century volume Epitome Cosmografica (1693) as an influence on his understanding of old globe-making techniques. In his blog post Give Me a Globe and I Will Draw the World: The Story of Coronelli, Leonardo writes a wonderful history that will bring it all home for those of you who want to learn of this subject.
It will perhaps shed more light on why I was enthralled enough to make my visit to the Marciana a lasting memory. That memory was further deepened when the Venice in Peril Summer Newsletter arrived last month – it was as if I was transported back to the rooms of the Marciana.
Alongside the art of the globe, there is the art of the map and a beautiful example of that is also at the Marciana in Venice. There my eyes slowly scanned over the large intricately detailed Mappaemundi (manuscript, parchment on wood) by Fra Mauro.
These globes and maps represent the narratives of the world from those far away centuries, creatively charted from adventures and discoveries as far back as the travels of Marco Polo.
Postscript. Closing with August celebrations. It was August 375 years ago that Coronelli was born in Venice. As a Franciscan friar, he was primarily a cosmographer and a cartographer, as was that other Venetian, Fra Mauro born 625 years ago. His glorious world map is dated August 1460. While not born in August, let’s celebrate Leonardo Frigo anyway, for not only is he well known for his globe making but initially for his painting of violins. Listen to this part of his story in this self-described Ink Artist video.
