Mathematician, naturalist and cartographer from Modena, he studied first with the Jesuits and later at the University of Modena. Upon returning from a voyage that had taken him to the major European centres of culture of the time, Vandelli was appointed to the Chair of Mathematics at the University of Modena, and in 1738 was nominated court "mathematician, geographer and antiquarian" by Francis III d'Este. Following the unification of the Duchy of Modena with that of Massa, Vandelli was commissioned to draw up a project for a road that would unite the two domains through the Apennines and the Apuan Alps. Known as "Via Vandelli", the road was finished over ten years later, in 1751. The work of surveying necessary to carry out this initiative and the reconnoitering effected over the whole territory of Emilia Romagna allowed Vandelli to compile with extreme accuracy a Chart of the Modenese territory and a Chart of the States of the Most Serene Lord Duke of Modena, still today considered one of the finest charts of the 18 th century. Among his works of naturalist character we may also recall a Saggio d'istoria naturale del Lago di Como, della Valsasina e altri luoghi lombardi [Essay on the natural history of Lake Como, the Valsasina and other places in Lombardy) (1763) and some treatises on the curative waters of Pavia and the Modena area.