“In the two pictures occupying the center of the ceiling, each of which is four braccia wide, are the celestial signs; these can be thrown back by means which cannot be perceived; and in a space representing the concave are to be two large spheres, one representing the earth: this will be made to descend by a concealed windlass, and will then be balanced on a support adequate to that purpose, so that when fixed, all the pictures and the maps on the cabinet will be reflected therein, each part being thus readily found on the sphere. On the other globe the forty-eight celestial signs will be arranged, in such sort that all the operations of the astrolabe may be performed most perfectly by the aid thereof. The plan of this work has proceeded from the Duke Cosimo, who desired to have all these parts of the earth and heaven brought for once fairly together in their just positions, exactly and without errors, to the end that they might be observed and measured, either apart or all together, as might be desired by those who study and delight in this most beautiful science. I have therefore thought myself bound to make a memorial of the same in this place, for the sake of Fra Ignazio; and that his ability, with the magnificence of that great Prince, who has judged us worthy to enjoy the benefits of so honorable a labor, may be made known to all the world.”[315] Danti must have undertaken this great work shortly after his arrival in Florence, since one of his maps, to which Vasari refers, is dated 1563, and it appears that the terrestrial globe must have been finished by 1567, since the general Depositaria of that year, as cited by Badia, records that twenty lire were paid to the gold-leaf maker, Taddeo di Francesco, for the five hundred leaves of gold to be used for the globe, and there is no succeeding entry referring to this particular piece of work.[316] We know that he never completed the task which had been assigned to him. Duke Cosimo’s death occurred in the year 1575, and his son and successor, Francesco, manifested but little interest in furthering the cause of science. It was perhaps at the instance of Francesco that the general of the Dominican Order directed Danti to leave Florence, and he passed the remainder of his days in Bologna. Apparently but thirty of the fifty-seven maps which were to be made by Danti were completed at the time of his dismissal, and only the terrestrial globe. As evidence that he did not construct the celestial globe, Badia cites a letter written by Antonio Lupicini to the Grand Duke Ferdinand, dated October 27, 1587. After reference to certain great works planned by Cosimo in the last years of his life, such as those referred to by Vasari, he adds that “when it seemed that nothing else was to be seen in the room, at a certain sign these historical representations disappeared and the cosmography of the whole mechanism, constructed after the manner of Ptolemy, was uncovered; in doing so they