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Global Connections,
Global Reflections
By JONATHAN P. CANNING,
FRANK WALSH, and MICHAEL J. ALBANI
I
n September, we bid farewell to two sojourners
who have been visiting the D’Arcy since last
summer: the remarkable 17th-century Dutch
terrestrial and celestial globes. They originally
arrived as loans from the Jesuits of the Central and
Southern Province for the exhibition
Crossings
and Dwellings: Restored Jesuits, Women Religious,
American Experience, 1814–2014
. Missionary
Pierre-Jean De Smet, S.J., first acquired these
stunning spheres in Europe in 1834 before bringing
them to Saint Louis University. It is extraordinary
to think that they have resided for 181 years in
territory largely unknown to their cartographer,
Willem Janszoon Blaeu.
We were fortunate to be able to accommodate
the globes in the D’Arcy’s Kathryn H. Stamm
gallery among coeval Baroque objects. They had
a subtle effect on the discourse between objects in
the gallery. And yes, objects do converse with one
Images courtesy of Cynthia Berry