Celestial Globe

A gilt copper globe depicting the celestial sphere, with representations of constellations and the signs of the Zodiac. It is composed of twelve copper gores fixed to an internal metallic structure with iron rivets, and is encircled by a meridian. At its poles are two axes that slotted into the housing at its base, which has since disappeared. The globe is signed and dated: [first cartouche:]“CHRISTOPHORVS SCHISSLERVS AVGVSTANVS GEOMETRICVS ET ASTRONOMICVS FABER GLOBVM HVNC CÆLESTREM [sic] FACIEBAT ET DESCRIBEBAT ANNO DOMINI 1575” (Christoph Schissler from Augsburg, the maker of geometrical and astronomical instruments, made and described this celestial globe in the Year of the Lord 1575) [2nd cartouche:] “STELLÆ HVIVS GLOBI NVMERATÆ AC DISTRIBVTÆ SVNT SECVNDVM CVRSVM SPHÆRÆ OCTAVÆ AD NOSTRVM TEMPVS ANNVMQVE ACCOMMODATÆ 1575“ (The stars of this globe are numbered and distributed according to the course of the eighth sphere, adapted to our time and year 1575). The drawing of the figures, symbols and legends closely follows the smallest model of the celestial globe printed by Caspar Vopelius in 1536, who, in turn, based himself on the drawing of Imagines coeli made by Albrecht Dürer and Conrad Heinfogel in around 1515. This globe already shows the nine constellations contained in the globe printed by Mercator (1551). The sphere is held in place by two brass spigots inside the ring of the meridian, around which it spins. The remaining accessories that originally formed part of the instrument, such as the hour dial, horizon and foot, no longer exist. Christoph Schissler the Elder (c. 1531-1608) was one of the most important makers of instruments, machinery and automatons in the city of Augsburg, an important centre for the manufacture of instruments in the 16th century. He created countless instruments for the courts of Vienna, Prague and Dresden, but today we know of only two other metal globes that originated from his workshop, although they are both smaller than this one. Schissler’s celestial globe, which probably had a terrestrial counterpart (now unfortunately disappeared), is one of the most valuable among the various 16th-century globes still in existence today. Being simultaneously a collector’s item and, above all, a scientific instrument, it bears witness to the great interest at that time in cosmography, astronomy and astrology, which marked the Renaissance period all over Europe, and was probably an object that was commissioned by the king or else represented a royal gift. (See Samuel GESSNER, “The Vopelius-Schissler Connection: Transmission of Knowledge for the Design of Celestial Globes in the 16th Century”, in Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society, No. 104, 2010).