A globe from 1504, thought to have been made by Leonardo da Vinci using two ostrich eggs, has been scanned by the Austrian company Westcam.
The scanning process provided new insights into the globe’s production and condition. Belgian scientist Stefaan Missinne, who resides in Austria, contributed to the work.
Using a robotic measuring system, the 3D scan achieved a precision of up to 0.003 millimetres.
Missinne has been researching the globe extensively and remarked on the unprecedented detail captured, allowing him to view the globe practically in its original state, before iron gall ink colours were applied.
The scan uncovered corrections in the engravings and confirmed the globe’s structure, which features two ostrich eggs glued together into a sphere with a diameter of 11.2 centimetres.
The engravings portray the coasts of South America, while North and Central America are depicted as an ocean, including an open passage to Asia. A demarcation line from the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, which divides the world between Spain and Portugal, is also visible.
Missinne believes left-handed engravings and stylistic elements strongly point to Leonardo da Vinci’s personal involvement, a theory supported by an image on the globe of a shipwrecked figure with a hairstyle typical of Florence around the year 1500.
Westcam highlighted the importance of 3D measurements on fragile cultural artefacts, as they precisely map relief and surface structure, revealing additional historical information.
