This portolan nautical chart, of Catalan origin, illustrates the coastal
<p>areas of the Mediterranean Sea with a wealth
of detail, with toponyms of the inhabited areas shown without regard to
political-territorial divisions. Nautical
charts came into use on sailing vessels in the Mediterranean
toward the end of the 13th century, coinciding with much broader seafaring
activity and exploration. These charts supplemented the written instructions,
or <em>portolanos</em>, which had been used for several centuries and thus were
called portolan charts. The main centers of production for these charts were Spain and northern Italy. The <em>Carta nautica del bacino del Mediterraneo </em>(Nautical chart of the Mediterranean basin), the only one of its type from
the archives and libraries of Sardinia, is a testimony to the cultural and
business relations that existed between Sardinia and Catalonia in the 16th century. Originally
traced on a single sheet of paper, the map was divided into four parts and used
in the binding of two volumes. The fourth part of the document has not
survived. The chart is attributed to the workshop of Mateus Prunes
(1532–94), a leading member of a family of cartographers who lived and worked
on the island of Majorca from the early 16th century to
the late 17th century.
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<br>Mediterranean Region; Nautical charts; Portolan charts
Prunes, Mateus (Flourished 1553 1599)
<p><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://dl.wdl.org/4174.png">http://dl.wdl.org/4174.png</a>
</p>
<ul><li>Gallery: <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.wdl.org/en/item/4174/">http://www.wdl.org/en/item/4174/</a></li></ul>