The
Heavens -The celestial globe is an invitation to travel through the sky
amidst the constellations such as they were on the day of the birth of
Louis XIV.
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| The Globe of the Sun King |
The Constellations
Seventy-two constellations appear on the globe. In addition
to the forty-eight constellations described by Ptolemy, there are those
introduced more recently thanks to improvements in lenses or on the basis of
observations made by navigators from the Southern hemisphere.
Allegories
The docker Perseus
and the head of the Medusa the crown allegories animals and characters inhabit
the surface of the globe. Ursa
Magna (the Great Bear), Corona Borealis (the Northern Crown), Lyra (the harp),
Perseus and the head of Medusa in the North, Crux (the Southern Cross),
Centauras (the centaur), Hydrus (the water snake), Argo Navis (the ship Argo)
and Pavo (the peacock) in the South: all the constellations are represented by
the allegorical figures corresponding to their shape in the sky.
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| Unicorn |
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| Ursa
Magna (the Great Bear) |
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| Hydrus (the water snake) |
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| Perseus and the head of Medusa in the North, Crux (the Southern Cross) |
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| Pavo (the peacock) in the South |
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| The Crane |
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