"And Yet It Is Round!"–An Exhibition at the Lobkowicz Palace Showcasing the World According to Legendary Cartographers
Lobkowicz Palace at Prague Castle invites visitors to a remarkable exhibition, "And Yet It Is Round!", which complements the permanent collection. This temporary installation opened at the end of 2024 and will be on display until October 30, 2025. The exhibition presents rare historical globes, maps, and travelogues from the Lobkowicz Collections.
Visitors can look forward to exceptional exhibits, such as a celestial and terrestrial globe from 1600 by the renowned cartographer Jodocus Hondius, an early edition of Gerhard Mercator’s Atlas, a hand-colored map from 1513 by Martin Waldseemüller, Athanasius Kircher’s work on China, and Johan Albrecht von Mandelslo’s travelogue, which describes an adventurous journey to India. Additionally, the exhibition features a video presentation that explains the significance of globes in early modern Europe, highlights the craftsmanship of their creators, and offers insight into the complex process of their recent restoration.
"Alongside the exhibition, we have also prepared educational programs for schools, helping students understand how the representations of the world evolved throughout history. As part of the workshop included in the program, participants will have a unique opportunity to experience the work of cartographers firsthand and create a small-scale replica of a historical globe," says Jan Malý, the exhibition's lead curator and the museum educator at the Lobkowicz Collections.
The exhibition will undergo several changes over time. Maps and engravings in travelogues, especially those that are hand-colored, can only be displayed for a limited period due to conservation requirements. This means visitors can return to the exhibition multiple times and always see different fascinating illustrations and rare cartographic works. The first rotation of displayed pages and maps took place on Wednesday, January 29, 2025.
For example, Athanasius Kircher’s work on China now features another of its captivating illustrations, revealing to the astonished European audience of the 17th century a vision of a distant and exotic land as depicted by contemporary authors. The previous scene, which portrayed "bats as large as cats," has now been replaced by a new illustration showcasing flying turtles.
The restoration of the globes from the Lobkowicz Collections was carried out in 2023 with funding provided by the Ministry of Culture as part of the Program for the Restoration of Movable Cultural Heritage. The display cases for the globes were loaned by the Museum of Decorative Arts.
The exhibition is part of the permanent collection at Lobkowicz Palace, which is open daily from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Tickets can be purchased on-site or online at https://www.lobkowicz.cz/en/lobkowicz-palace. In case of great interest, a workshop can also be organized to further familiarize participants with the history of world representation on globes and maps. For group attendance of a workshop, do not hesitate to contact us using the following details: Jakub Fajnor, +420 720 078 272, jakub.fajnor@lobkowicz.cz.