Terrain models

Plaster treasures: the collection of models of the Museum of Geography

The Museum of Geography of the University of Padua houses one of the richest Italian collections of terrain models. This precious collection includes 26 pieces, made mostly between 1890 and 1920. This period represents the peak in the history of this special cartographic representation, for the fervent topographic and geological survey activity that characterized it, combined with the growing interest in innovative teaching tools in the geographical field.

Among the main model makers represented stand out the names of Italians Claudio Cherubini, Domenico Locchi and Amedeo Aureli, while among foreign authors we must certainly mention Charles Perron and his Model of the Swiss Alps according to the Earth’s curvature: one of the 4 known specimens of what remains of the dream of geographer Elisée Reclus, that is to create a relief globe on a scale of 1:100,000 for the Paris Expo of 1900.

Of great interest and perfectly preserved are also the two military models of Montello and the Asiago Plateau donated to the University after the Great War.

The collection has recently been enriched with six specimens on temporary deposit from the Geology collections: of these, the fascinating representations of Vesuvius (1849) and Etna (1867), made by the curator of the Berlin Museum of Natural History Thomas Dickert, can already be admired along the Gallery of models.

Come visit the gallery of models of the Museum of Geography: among Alpine peaks, volcanic islands, lakes, and valleys, you can admire unusual representations of near and far places.