Fra Mauro’s Globe – Scale 1:2

What are you buying?

• Three-dimensional facsimile reproduction of Fra Mauro’s World Map at 1:2 scale
• Critical commentary
• Luxury box made of eco-sustainable cardboard
• Certificate of the olive tree donated to Salento
• Certificate of authenticity (colophon) with the identifying data of the work and the edition
• Exclusive access to the Antiquus reserved area with in-depth digital content

Technical data

• Location of the original: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice – Italy
• Dating of the original: 1448–1460 AD.
• Facsimile dimensions: 136 × 136 cm
  Scale: 1:2
• Globe material: paper with hand-applied gold leaf decorations
• Frame material: solid larch, beech friezes, gilding and patination
• Publisher: Imago, Rimini
• Condition: new
• Exclusively available: 9

Guarantees and services

• 24 month warranty
• Right of withdrawal within 30 days
• Payment by deposit available
• Made to order after purchase
• Updates with photos and videos during the preparation
• Shipping via insured courier or VIP delivery
• Production time: 15 working days

Why buy Fra Mauro’s Globe?

An absolute icon of medieval cartography

Fra Mauro’s World Map is more than just a map: it’s a vision of the world. Created in fifteenth-century Venice, it gathers knowledge from merchants, ambassadors, and navigators, transforming it into a representation rich in detail, relationships, and memories.

It is a work that tells the story of the known world, but above all the way in which Venice observed it, interpreted it, and connected it.

A masterpiece to read and contemplate

Cartouches, textual notes, miniature cities, reliefs, rivers, coastlines, ships, and decorative symbols transform the map’s surface into a visual narrative of rare intensity. Every detail invites you to pause, read, and observe closely.

The facsimile faithfully conveys this experience, with a scenic presence that makes the work ideal for a private collection, a studio, a library, or a representative space.

A work that combines prestige and artisanal beauty

The value of Fra Mauro’s Globe lies not only in its historical importance. The meticulous decorations, brilliant colors, gold leaf gilding, and frame inspired by the original also make it an object of exquisite craftsmanship, designed for those who desire to own a rare, cultured, and visually extraordinary work.

An edition for a few

With only nine pieces available exclusively, this offering ranks among the highest-end Antiquus collectibles. It’s a purchase for those seeking uniqueness, authoritativeness, and a cultural legacy to be preserved over time.

The map: the world from Venice

The Mappamondo’s surface contains approximately 3,000 inscriptions, including historical, geographical, and cultural notes, along with miniatures of cities, kingdoms, ships, and symbols. It is not simply a representation of the world: it is a world narrated, commented, and interpreted. The facsimile conveys this visual impact with remarkable effectiveness, transforming the work into an experience of reading and contemplation.

Cartouches and rubrics

Thousands of textual notes punctuate the seas and lands. They contain not only place names, but also micro-stories of cities, routes, peoples, and legends. In the facsimile, the handwriting and layout are faithfully reproduced, conveying the charm of a living, narrative geography.

Miniature cities

Capitals and ports appear as walled cities, with towers, gates, and structures that give rhythm to the map’s surface. These are minute and precious details, capable of rewarding the observer with continuous elements of discovery.

Mountains, rivers and coasts

Mountain ranges, waterways, promontories and coasts create a decorative geography that guides the eye and gives depth to the composition.

The whole is never static: each area of ​​the map appears animated by a figurative and symbolic order.

Ships, flags and emblems

The seas are filled with boats, insignia, and symbols of power and commerce, elements that add dynamism and transform the map into a living scene, rich in movement and meaning.

Gold and color

Bright colors and gilding enhance borders, titles, and symbolic elements. In the facsimile, gold leaf is applied by hand and patinated to convey depth, luminosity, and material warmth. The south-facing orientation also contributes to the work’s allure, creating a striking and instantly recognizable visual effect.

The frame: a jewel of decorative art

The frame that accompanies Fra Mauro’s Globe is not simply a support, but an integral part of the work. This reproduction reproduces it in 1:2 scale, respecting the proportions, profiles, moldings, friezes, and finishes inspired by the original. Crafted from solid larch and enriched with beech friezes, it is crafted using traditional techniques of gessoing, sanding, bole application, gilding, and patinating. The result is a sumptuous, luminous, and almost sculptural presence, enhancing the globe as a truly high-end collector’s item.

The medallions: cosmology, elements, Eden and globe

At the four corners of the work appear four symbolic representations that expand the meaning of the globe and demonstrate its cultural depth.

Ptolemaic cosmology

It represents the order of the heavens according to Ptolemy, with the Earth at the center and the celestial spheres around it. It is a reminder that, in medieval thought, geography was closely linked to astronomy.

The four elements

Earth, water, fire, and air appear as the keys to understanding nature and the phenomena of the world. The map is not only political or religious, but also physical and cosmological.

Eden off the map

The Earthly Paradise is located outside the perimeter of the depicted world. This is a highly symbolic choice, separating the historical and geographical world from a further, unmapable dimension.

The globe with poles, equator and tropics

This depiction shows the Earth as a sphere, with its basic lines. It is one of the most striking elements of the work, because it introduces a vision of the planet that was remarkably modern for the time.

History and curiosities

The Fra Mauro World Map was commissioned by the Portuguese King Afonso V from the Monastery of San Michele. Fra Mauro, a Camaldolese monk and one of the most authoritative cartographers of his time, worked on it with his collaborators for years. Despite payments and requests from the Portuguese crown, the work never reached Lisbon and instead remained in Venice.

It is particularly fascinating that Fra Mauro, despite never having left the island of San Michele, managed to construct one of the most extensive, complex, and evocative representations of the medieval world, thanks to the tales of merchants, navigators, and ambassadors of the Serenissima.

From the Quirinale to Beijing: a story that continues in your collection

This edition belongs to the same series of works already presented in prominent international institutional contexts: at the Quirinale Palace, in the exhibition From the Ancient to the New Silk Road, and in Beijing, at the World Art Museum, as part of the exhibition “Journey of Knowledge: Marco Polo’s Travels and His Legacy between East and West,” inaugurated by Giorgia Meloni during her official visit to China on July 29, 2024.

Purchasing Fra Mauro’s Globe means owning one of the most iconic works of Venetian culture and universal cartography. It is a masterpiece that unites East and West, geographical knowledge and symbolic imagery, historical value and decorative beauty. In this limited edition, it also becomes a highly collectible item, designed for those who wish to preserve a rare, spectacular work destined to leave a lasting impression.

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