A fascinating journey through scientific knowledge and maritime culture takes shape with the auction ‘Scientific Instruments and Maritime Art’ organized by Cambi Auction House, scheduled for April 16, 2026, at Castello Mackenzie in Genoa.

The sale, composed of a carefully curated selection of instruments dating from the 17th to the 20th century, showcases the evolution of scientific knowledge and nautical techniques through objects of great charm and historical significance: astrolabes, globes, microscopes, planetariums, marine chronometers, and ship models, alongside paintings and maritime views.

Among the top lots stands out a Naval Battle in front of the Port of Genoa, from a 17th-century school, offered with an estimate of €15,000–20,000: a work of great visual impact that captures the drama and monumentality of naval clashes of the time.

Of particular interest is also the rare double planetarium with tellurium signed W. & S. Jones (London, 1794), a sophisticated educational instrument for representing planetary motion, estimated at €4,000–5,000, along with the evocative French celestial globe engraved by Nicolas Bailleul le Jeune and dedicated to the Count of Clermont, with an estimate of €3,000–5,000.

The section dedicated to scientific instruments also includes an elegant brass Culpeper-type microscope signed by Thomas Ribright (active between 1756 and 1789), estimated at €2,000–3,000, and a refined 19th-century French armillary sphere (€2,500–3,500).

Ample space is devoted to navigation, with a selection of 19th-century marine chronometers of English and Dutch manufacture, including a piece signed Barraud & Lunds (London, c. 1850), estimated at €3,000–4,000—essential instruments for calculating longitude and symbols of technological progress in the maritime field.

Completing the sale is a selection of maritime views and paintings, including a View of the Gulf of Naples signed by Girolamo Gianni and dated 1862 (estimate €4,000–5,000), as well as works from Neapolitan and Italian schools of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The catalog concludes with an impressive half-hull shipyard model of the steamship “Marin Sanudo,” rich in technical and decorative details, estimated at €3,000–4,000, bearing witness to the tradition of naval shipbuilding.