The Portolan Atlas of 1546 of Battista Agnese from the Russian National Library St Petersburg

The Portolan Atlas of 1546 of Battista Agnese from the Russian National Library St Petersburg

Portolan-Atlas des Battista Agnese von 1546 aus der Russischen Nationalbibliothek Sankt Petersburg

Battista Agnese was one of the most prolific Venetian cartographers of the second half of the sixteenth century. Although he is often written off as just a copyist, he had a unique artistic style and an ability to adapt his work to accommodate new geographic discoveries. Battista Agnese’s atlases were extremely ornate and expensive. They were often commissioned by wealthy Venetian patrons and were frequently recorded in the possession of various European royals.This atlas, dated 1546, is typical of Agnese in its style and contents. Following a flyleaf with the (unknown) patron’s coat of arms, there are cosmological models and a chart of the zodiac. Three miniatures of classical scenes are included, painted by an unknown Venetian artist—notably, one is of Atlas holding up a globe, instead of the heavens.

There are 13 maps in total, most of which are drawn in the classic portolan style with wind lines, wind roses, ships, and various decorations populating the land such as figures, banners, and geographical features. On these portolan charts, coastal locations are written perpendicular to the coasts in primarily Latin, Italian, and Spanish. There are maps of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, three maps devoted to the Mediterranean, and several other regional maps, including one of Italy. The final map of the atlas is an oval world map (image attached), which depicts five continents. A line stretches across the map, marking Magellan’s voyage. In typical Agnese style, the twelve winds—drawn as cherub heads on blue clouds—frame the map. In the creation of this atlas, Agnese was inspired by Spanish and Portuguese maps, as well as other Venetian sea charts and the works of Ptolemy. Geographic features distinguish this atlas from others from Agnese. Compared to some of his earlier work, this world map features the Californian peninsula and no longer separates England and Scotland by a channel. This is a testament to emerging geographic knowledge of the sixteenth century and Agnese’s reception of these discoveries.

Despite its technical detail, this atlas was not intended for navigational use, but rather to be a documentation of knowledge and tradition.

(Piper Henderson 2027)

Battista Agnese of Genoa

Atlas

Agnese, Battista, Arthur Dürst, T. P Voronova, Rossiĭskaia natsionalʹnaia biblioteka., Rossiĭskaia natsionalʹnaia biblioteka., and T. P. (Tamara Pavlovna) Voronova. “Vollständige Faksimile-Studienausgabe in Einzelblättern des Portolan-Atlas von Battista Agnese (1546) aus dem Besitz der Russischen Nationalbibliothek in St. Petersburg.” Disentis, Switzerland: Desertina, 1993.

1546

Manuscript

Special Collections, Carleton College, Northfield, MN

Latin

Atlas

World

Astengo, Corradino. “The Renaissance Chart Tradition in the Mediterranean.” In The History of Cartography, vol. 3, part 1, Cartography in the European Renaissance, ed. David Woodward.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Voronova, Tamara P. The Portolan Atlas of 1546 of Battista Agnese from the Russian National Library St Petersburg: Commentary on the Facsimile Edition. Disentis, Switzerland: Desertina Verlag, 1993.

Wagner, Henry R. “The Manuscript Atlases of Battista Agnese.” The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 25 (1931): 1–110. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24298267.

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