A PAIR OF MONUMENTAL TERRESTRIAL AND CELESTIAL GLOBES

These spectacular globes belonged to the legendary bon vivant Charles de Beistegui (1895 - 1970) and, by family tradition, were displayed in his hôtel particulier, rue Constantine, Paris. The heir to a Mexican silver fortune, Beistegui had a flair for the theatrical and, in collaboration with the Cuban-born architect Emilio Terry (1890-1969) and his assistant Michel de Bros, designed elaborately themed rooms and garden follies in grand neo-classical style. He was admired by many, including Robert de Balkany, who shared Beistegui’s all-consuming passion for collecting and creating grand settings.
Vicenzo Coronelli (1650-1718) was a Franciscan monk as well as a celebrated cartographer and globe maker. He set up a workshop for the production of globes in the convent of S. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice and began the production of printed globes in 1688. Two of his most important commissions were a pair of globes for Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma, and a pair of monumental globes over twelve feet in diameter for Louis XIV, known as the Marly globes. Coronelli founded the world's first geographical society the Accademia Cosmografica degli Argonauti and was awarded the official title Cosmographer of the Republic of Venice.