Vincenzo Coronelli (1650-1718)
Venice, Italy, 1697
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Maps and Plans Department 
© Bibliothèque nationale de France, département des Cartes et plans 

A room dealing with the Age of Discovery is located halfway on the tour of Louvre Abu Dhabi. Several topics have been chosen for this space including the exploration of the globe, the discovery of other cultures and the cabinets of curiosities. The voyages of European navigators from Christopher Columbus to James Cook triggered a first wave of globalisation. Vincenzo Coronelli’s globe, loaned by the Bibliothèque nationale de France, embodies this notion. Coronelli was a famous cartographer who made globes of Earth and the sky of a very high standard. In parallel, Louvre Abu Dhabi owns also in its collection an Arab astrolabe that represents Arab scientists’ contribution to the circulation of knowledge from the Middle East to Europe.