bavarikon4UDescription
In 1571, the Münchner Hofbibliothek (Munich Court Library), the predecessor of today’s Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State Library), moved from the “Alte Hof” (Old Court) into the upper floor of the Antiquarium in the Residenz (Residence). Duke Albrecht V (1528 – 1579) commissioned a terrestrial and a celestial globe for the decoration of the premises of the library and for the enhancement of its representative character. This pair of globes belongs both scientifically and artistically to the masterworks of their time.
Philipp Apian (1531 – 1589) provided the scientific data for the terrestrial globe. Hans Donauer (d. 1596) executed the painting on both globes, while the two stands were made by the sculptor Hans Aernhofer (d. 1621) and clock maker Ulrich Schniep provided the mechanical works. The celestial globe was completed in 1575, the terrestrial one a year later.
The depiction attests to the high level of Apian’s cartographic knowledge. North and Mesoamerica are depicted in detailed accordance with the most up-to-date standard of knowledge. On the southern hemisphere, the latest Oceanic discoveries (New Guinea) are presented. The five inscriptions added in cartouches, of which one remained empty, contain the dedication to the duke, his coat of arms, reports about the discovery of the Americas, about Fernando Magellan’s (1480 – 1521) circumnavigation of the globe between 1519 and 1521 and about the voyages of explorations conducted by the Florentine Giovanni da Verazzano (1485 – 1528), in particular to North America, between 1524 and 1528. In addition, the agreement of boundaries between a world dominated by Spain and Portugal, which was ratified in the treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, is discussed.
In 1943, the globes were taken to Weihenlinden (district of Rosenheim). When they returned the stands were destroyed and incomplete. It was only in 2006 that the legs of the celestial globe, which had been considered lost, were rediscovered in Weihenlinden: at which point it became clear that during restoration the stands had been exchanged. The legs found in Weihenlinden, which support today the celestial globe, once belonged to the terrestrial globe.
Literature
Claudia Fabian (Hg.), Kulturkosmos der Renaissance. Die Gründung der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. Ausstellungskataloge 79), Wiesbaden 2008, Kat. 14.
Marianne Reuter, Beschreibung der Handschrift Cod.icon. 129, in: BSB-CodIcon Online (Wed Feb 06 18:07:29 CET 2013).