This is a circular map (dia. 113 cm.)from 1450 incorporating elements form mappaemundi and portolan charts. It depicts Europe, Asia, and Africa. The map has windrose (rhumb) lines and coastal cities labeled perpendicular to the coast like a portolan chart. In Europe various regions have flags depicting ownership, while in Africa and Asia large depictions of seated figures in tents show the local rulers. The Indian Ocean is open, unlike in from Ptolemy's description. In it, there are large numbers of circular red and blue islands, a ship, and several mermaids. The Mediterranean region is almost completely a portolan chart with Sicily and several other islands having detailed coasts and internal cities. The ocean clearly goes all the way around Europe, Africa and Asia. Throughout the map, cities are portrayed as a collection of towers sometimes with mosques depending on the region. Mountain ranges are depicted in green, and the Atlas mountains are very prominent on the map. Africa gets very narrow below West Africa before widening out into a crescent shape that is almost entirely unlabeled. (Oscar Smith '20)
Modena, Biblioteca Estense. MS C.G.A. 1.
Mapamundi catalán, ca. 1450, ed. Ernesto Milano and Annalisa Battini. Barcelona: M. Moleiro 1996.
Special Collections, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
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Special Collections (Flat Files) ; G6714.R7 .A57 1645