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Map [Portolan atlas of 9 charts and a world map, etc.] Title from Phillips: Portolan atlas containing 10 maps

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Title

  • [Portolan atlas of 9 charts and a world map, etc.]

Other Title

  • Title from Phillips: Portolan atlas containing 10 maps

Summary

  • "Battista Agnese, one of the most important Italian Renaissance cartographers, was born in Genoa. He worked in Venice in the period 1536-64, and in about 1544 he produced this sumptuous and well-executed manuscript atlas in pen-and-ink and watercolor with silver and gold illumination on vellum. The atlas reflects the latest geographic knowledge, gained primarily from voyages by Spanish and Portuguese explorers in the first half of the 16th century. A mere 50 years after Columbus's historic voyage of 1492, new information based on direct observation was rapidly changing the European image of the world. Maps one, two, and ten in the atlas all offer views of the Americas. Map one shows the Gulf of California discovered by Francisco de Ulloa in 1539, Yucatan as an island, and partial segments of the east and west coasts of South America. Map two shows the entire Atlantic Coast and parts of the Pacific Coast of North and South America. The river system in South America strongly suggests Brazil as an island. Map ten is an oval world map delineating the route of Magellan's circumnavigation and the routes of the Spanish gold fleets from Peru to Spain, with overland portage across the Isthmus of Panama. In the blue-and-gold clouds surrounding the oval world are cherubs, or wind heads, representing the classical twelve-point winds from which modern compass directions evolved. A version of this world map appears in each of the 71 surviving atlases by Battista Agnese. Maps two and ten include what are among the earliest depictions of Panama. Map nine shows the Mediterranean Coast. The atlas, which also includes an armillary sphere and a finely drawn zodiac chart, was prepared for and dedicated to Hieronimus Ruffault, whose coat of arms faces the dedication. Ruffault was abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Saint Vaast and Saint Adrian in Arras, a northern French city of Gallo-Roman origin." World Digital Library.

Names

  • Agnese, Battista, active 16th century

Created / Published

  • [ca. 1544]

Headings

  • -  Earth

Genre

  • Early maps
  • Manuscript maps
  • Portolan charts
  • World atlases

Notes

  • -  "Maps 1, 2, and 10 show America. No. 1 shows the Gulf of California which Ulloa discovered in 1539. On the same map Yucatan is shown as an island, and the east and west coasts of North and South America are only partially shown. On no. 2, the east coasts of North and South America are shown in their entirety and the west coasts only partially. Clumps of trees in green and gold are shown on no. 1, near the Noluccas, and on no. 2, in the Brazilian region of South America. The oval world map (no. 10) shows Magellan's route around the world and a route from Spain to Peru. The 12 wind cherubs on this map are named." -- Ristow and Skelton, Nautical charts on vellum in the Library of Congress, 1977.
  • -  Dedicated to Hieronymus Ruffault, Abbot of St. Vaast.
  • -  Each double-page illumination is 21 x 29 cm. Compass rose on inside back cover.
  • -  Pen-and-ink and watercolor, on vellum.
  • -  Title provided by cataloger.
  • -  LC Luso-Hispanic World, 6
  • -  LC Nautical charts on vellum, 5
  • -  List of geographical atlases in the Library of Congress, 5914
  • -  Rosenthal 1914, 1884
  • -  Ruge 1916, p. 17-18
  • -  Skelton, 19
  • -  Wagner 1931, 33

Medium

  • 1 ms. atlas (15 leaves) : col. ; 26 cm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • G1001 .A4 1544

Repository

  • Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. 20540 to 4650 USA dcu

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 98687206

Online Format

  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The materials in Parallel Histories: Spain, the United States, and the American Frontier are in the public domain and are free to use and reuse.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, Parallel Histories: Spain, the United States, and the American Frontier.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Agnese, Battista, Active 16Th Century. Portolan Atlas of 9 Charts and a World Map, Etc. [1544] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/98687206/.

APA citation style:

Agnese, B. (1544) Portolan Atlas of 9 Charts and a World Map, Etc. [Map] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/98687206/.

MLA citation style:

Agnese, Battista, Active 16Th Century. Portolan Atlas of 9 Charts and a World Map, Etc. [1544] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/98687206/>.