EXPLAINEDCRAFT · PAINTINGS & MANUSCRIPTS
The Sputnik of Montalcino
1595 · San Pietro, Montalcino · Italy
WHAT IT IS
A grey metal sphere with two long antennae hangs between Christ and God the Father, 362 years before Sputnik.
THE ALIEN READING
Nicknamed the 'Sputnik of Montalcino': the satellite, in a painting of 1595. The lights on its surface and the two rods make the case.
WHAT THE RECORD SAYS
It is the globe of Creation held by the Trinity, with the Sun and Moon marked on it. The 'antennae' are the sceptres of God and Christ. The same globe appears in other Trinities, among them Pieter Coecke's in the Prado (Cuoghi; Polidoro).
WHERE IT STANDS
Explained. Historians and archaeologists account for what it shows. The alien reading is a modern one.
STATUS IS OUR CURRENT ASSESSMENT, NOT A VERDICT · REVIEWED 3 OCT 2026
THE RECORD
- DATE
- 1595
- PLACE
- San Pietro, Montalcino · Italy
- MADE BY
- Ventura Salimbeni
- MEDIUM
- Paintings
- TECHNICAL
- Altarpiece · Glorification of the Eucharist (Disputa) · detail
MORE FROM VOL. II · BEFORE THE CAMERA
FOLIO 14 · EXPLAINED
The Madonna with Saint Giovannino
Late 15th century
FOLIO 15 · EXPLAINED
The Dečani 'Spaceships'
c. 1350
FOLIO 19 · DISPUTED
The Hollow Ship of 1803
1803 story · late Edo copy
FOLIO 20 · DISPUTED
The Hollow Ship, Bakin's Version
1825
FOLIO 13 · EXPLAINED
The Palenque 'Astronaut'
683 CE
FOLIO 22 · EXPLAINED
The 'Flying Saucer' Jeton
c. 1656