19TH CENTURY, THE SCAGLIOLA TOP DECORATED WITH A PLANISPHERE AFTER A MAP BY VINCENZO MARIA CORONELLI

Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (1650-1718) was a Franciscan monk, cosmographer and cartographer, known in particular for his atlases and globes. He was born in Venice, where he spent most of his life. He excelled in the study of both astronomy and Euclid, and published the volumes known as Atlante Veneto. Around 1678 he was commissioned to make a set of terrestrial and celestial globes for Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma. Coronelli then moved to Paris following the invitation of Cardinal César d'Estrées, a friend and advisor to Louis XIV, where he remained for two years. He moved permanently back to Venice in 1705, where he died aged 68, having created hundreds of maps in his lifetime.