1650 - 1718
Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (1650-1718) is widely recognised as one of
Italy’s most famous and greatest cartographers. Born in Venice, he
received an ecclesiastical education at the convent of the Minor
Conventuals and also studied theology in Rome. However, his interests
in geography and cartography were awoken early in his ecclesiastical
career and never suppressed.
Coronelli constructed two globes for the Duke of Parma and their
success insured an invitation to Paris where he was to construct
another, very large-scale (some fifteen feet in diameter) pair of
globes for Louis XIV. The scale of these globes was such that they
were created with trapdoors for the craftsmen to enter so that they
could be worked on from the inside as well as from outside. These
globes bore painted rather than printed detail.
However, Coronelli went on to produce printed globe gores – these were
published in book format in 1697 in the Libri Dei Globi. He also
produced a range of pocket-sized globes. This variety, accuracy and
attention to detail in his globe-making assured his reputation across
Europe. In 1680 Coronelli also founded the oldest surviving
geographical society - the Academia Cosmografica degli Argonauti.
As ‘Map-maker Royal’ to Louis XIV, Coronelli was based in Paris from
1681 to 1683. Here he had access to the latest French manuscript
records, which he incorporated into his printed maps. Coronelli also
published numbers of important maps in conjunction with the French
publisher, Jean Baptiste Nolin. Nolin had engraved aset of celestial
globe gores for Coronelli in 1688 and went on to become the French
publisher of Coronelli’s maps. These maps, although comparable to the
Italian versions, are appreciably scarcer, as they seem not to have
been included in regularly produced atlases.
Coronelli also published the Atlante Veneto (1691-1696), which was intended as a continuation of the Blaeu Atlas Maior.
This vast work comprised some thirteen volumes and a wealth of
information. Lists were included of ancient and modern geographers
along with astronomical, geographical, historical and ecclesiastical
detail. The maps from the Atlante Veneto
are engraved in characteristic fine bold style, using the latest
geographical information available. Many of the more important maps
were engraved on two sheets, to allow greater detail.
Click here to see maps published by Coronelli.
Dictionary of map makers
An illustrated list of makers of maps, charts and globes from the earliest time of cartography to present.
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