The Castiglioni World Map, created by Portuguese cartographer Diogo Ribeiro in 1525, is a stunning and detailed depiction of the known world during the Age of Exploration. The map was commissioned as a gift for Baldassare Castiglione, an Italian diplomat and prominent figure in the Papal court, marking it as a diplomatic tool as well as a masterpiece of geographical knowledge of the time. Diogo Ribeiro was a prominent Portuguese cartographer of the early 16th century, known for his work under the Spanish Crown during a period of intense exploration and territorial expansion. His maps were celebrated for their accuracy and detail, as they incorporated information from Spanish explorers and navigators. However, the Castiglioni World Map is not one of his more famous works and is less studied compared to some of his other maps. Geographically, the map covers a vast range of territories. It includes Europe, Africa, the Americas, and parts of Asia. The map presents the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, showing the new discoveries in the Western Hemisphere, particularly the outline of the American continents. North America is less detailed compared to South America, where the coastline and major features are more precisely mapped, reflecting the Spanish focus on this region. The Caribbean islands are also prominent, highlighting Spain’s colonial interests. The map also prominently features the line of division established by the Treaty of Tordesillas, a crucial demarcation that divided the world between Spanish and Portuguese spheres of influence. This line underscores the political and territorial stakes of the Age of Exploration and Spain’s claims over the Americas. The Castiglioni World Map by Diogo Ribeiro features a highly detailed coastline, especially around South America and the Caribbean, reflecting Spain’s extensive exploration efforts. The coasts of Brazil, the Río de la Plata, and major Caribbean islands like Cuba and Hispaniola are accurately depicted. Important port cities such as Lisbon, Seville, and key harbors in the Caribbean and along the Brazilian coast are also highlighted. These cities are marked with small symbols, indicating their significance as hubs of trade and colonial expansion during the Age of Exploration. The coastline and port cities on this map emphasize both the growing geographic knowledge and the importance of maritime navigation. The map also features navigational elements that enhance its visual and functional appeal. Compass roses are prominently placed, marking cardinal directions and serving as essential tools for maritime navigation. Rhumb lines extend from these roses, guiding sailors along consistent routes across the oceans. In the map’s corners, wind heads—depicted as faces blowing gusts of air—symbolize the important winds that helped propel ships during voyages. The lower left corner features a horary quadrant, a tool used to measure time based on the sun’s position, while the lower right corner includes an astrolabe, highlighting the scientific and practical instruments essential for maritime exploration. These elements not only aid navigation but also add artistic flair, blending functionality with the decorative style typical of Renaissance cartography. It is widely believed that the map served as a diplomatic gift from Charles V to Baldassarre Castiglione in celebration of his marriage to Isabel of Portugal in 1526. By presenting this map as a gift, Charles V aimed to strengthen diplomatic ties with Castiglione, who was a prominent papal ambassador and influential figure in Renaissance politics. The map’s rich detail and accuracy not only highlight Spain’s growing imperial ambitions but also symbolize the importance of cartography as a tool for asserting power and influence during an era of exploration. The inclusion of navigational details and geographic features further emphasizes its significance as both a work of art and a political statement, reflecting the era's spirit of discovery and ambition. (Lucia Caputo 2027)
Carta Castiglioni (1525), Biblioteca Estense Universitaria di Modena C.G.A.12
Bini, Roberto, Ernesto Milano, and Inge Krutsch. Carta del navegare universalissima et diligentissima: Castiglioni Weltkarte. Modena : Il Bulino, 2002.
Special Collections, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
Rights for maps held by individual publishers and institutions. Thumbnails displayed constitute fair use.
https://www.facsimilefinder.com/facsimiles/castiglioni-world-map-facsimile
Carleton Library Special Collections Map (Map, Rolled) (G3200 1525 .C322 2002)
This striking specimen, commissioned for Charles V of France (r. 1364-1380) and probably made by Majorcan Cresques Abraham, is a unique hybrid of exacting cartography and artistic prowess. The Atlas was the first map to include a compass (rather than wind) rose, and responded ably to Charles V’s request for the most accurate map in the world. The facsimile reproduces six vellum leaves, the first two rich with text and illustrations showing a cosmological encyclopedia and the latter four with a map stretching from the Atlantic to the far reaches of China. The Atlas renders the Mediterranean basin and most of Europe in detail reminiscent of other contemporary portolan charts, and draws on accounts of the recent travels of Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta to populate North Africa and the Far East with the cities of Mali and the Khanate. Resplendent with gold, silver, and pigments, the Catalan Atlas invites the viewer to lose themselves in its rivers and rhumb lines. (Nicholas Carlsen '17 and Adron Mason '16)
Catalan Atlas, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des manuscrits, Espagnol 30.
Cresques Abraham. Mapamundi, the Catalan atlas of the year 1375, ed. Georges Grosjean. Zurich: Urs Graf Verlag GmbH, 1977.
Carleton Library, Special Collections (Horizontal Shelving) G1001 .C73 1977
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 (Flat Files) ; G6714.R7 .A57 1645
Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg’s 16th-century Cities of the World is a six-volume city atlas. Each volume features detailed engravings of cities from around the world, the early volumes focusing primarily on European cities. In the second volume facsimile, every map is outlined in a gold border and has dark, rich colors. These maps are realistic representations, rather than schematic ones, in that the maps’ buildings and their surrounding landmarks are drawn in detail. Prior to the page, or spread, that a map fills, a page of Latin text edited by Braun provides historical and cultural context. The maps in this volume have two types of perspectives: aerial, showing the city from a great height, and bird’s-eye, looking directly down on the city. The aerial views show the cities from a distance, while the surrounding areas are shown in greater detail. Topographical lines mark the hills encompassing the cities, an artistic development that appeared during the Renaissance and was quickly adopted by cartographers. The maps from a bird’s-eye view are from a top-down show the city streets in detail, sectioning off the city from the countryside with thick, bold lines. This bird’s-eye view was developed during the Renaissance, and Hogenberg uses this engraving technique to defy perceptual limitations and portray the cities as God would see them. The borders between the city and the agricultural land are a visual means of separation, highlighting the cities’ understandings of urban identity. These borders are a physical form of separation, while the humans depicted in the foreground of the maps show cultural separation. The people drawn in the foreground range from representations of farmers to soldiers, and their scale is larger than that of the city buildings in the background, placing an emphasis on their presence. Along with these larger figures, there are smaller scenes depicting battles and trade. Braun’s inclusion of these scenes communicates the towns’ histories and economies in an informational, yet enjoyable, form for travelers and readers. The readability of the volume sets it apart from traditional wall maps. By reading through this volume, readers from the 16th century would have had a greater understanding of their world than if they were looking at a single map. The time and resources necessary for this single atlas are also far greater than a sheet map. By owning all six volumes, one would not only be highly educated, but they would be displaying a high degree of wealth.
Georg Braun. Beschreibung und Contrafactur der vornembster Stät der Welt. Cologne: J. Hornung, 1572-1618.
Georg Braun & Frans Hogenberg. Beschreibung und Contrafactur der vornembster Stät der Welt, Max Schefold. Plochingen: Müller und Schindler, 1965.
https://www.loc.gov/item/2008627031/ https://clemson.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Shortlist/index.html?appid=ba6fb42c256746f1ae96136087b1e752
Carleton College Library Special Collections (Folio) G140 .B715
This 15th-century map combines a portolan chart and a world map. Anonymous and not precisely dated, the map is separated into two distinct spaces, divided by a line embellished with gold at the left edge of the sheet of parchment (the "neck" or pointed end). To the right is a portolan chart of the Mediterranean that includes the Portuguese discoveries in Africa as far as the Gulf of Guinea. On the left is a small circular map of the world, which reflects European geographical knowledge at the very beginning of its exploration of the Americas. The cosmography is inscribed in nine celestial circles, which fits with the prevailing geocentric conception of the universe of the time. The only humans depicted are two warring figures in what might be modern-day Mali or Niger, one holding a spear and shield and the other a bow. The map has been attributed to Christopher Columbus, but this remains a highly controversial claim.
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Cartes et Plans, Rés. Ge AA 562
La carta de Cristóbal Colón: mapa portulano, ca. 1492-1500. Introduction by José Luis Comellas. Barcelona: M. Moleiro Editor, S.A., 1995.
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b59062629/f1.item https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/56928/portolan-on-vellum-the-disputed-christopher-columbus-port-m-moleiro-editor-sa [offers a high resolution digital copy] https://images.cnrs.fr/en/video/6877
Carleton Library Special Collections Map (Map, Rolled) G3201.P5 1492 .C3 1995
Cosmographei contains a world map, regional maps, as well as cosmographical maps.The world maps includes, present-day North and South America, as well as the continent of Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Other land masses, such as present day Greenland, are present on the map but unlabeled. In the oceans are images of large ships and sea creatures. The latitude are marked along the outside wings of the map, and the longitude are marked along the equator. Outside of the world, the ‘winds’ are marked by the heads of men who are blowing onto the Earth.
Ulm, Lienhart Holle, 16 July (XVII Kal. Aug.) 1482.
Münster, Sebastian. Cosmographei. Amsterdam: Theatrvm Orbis Terrarvm, 1968.
Carleton Library Special Collections (Folio) G113 .M75 1550a
The map is a painted woodcut from the 1534 edition of the Luther Bible and is found at the beginning of Genesis in the Old Testament. There are two prominent features of the map: God overseeing creation; and the concentric spheres of the cosmos. God the creator is cloaked in red and has elaborate gold and jewels around the neck. Their deep red cloak embraces creation and gives the impression of great power over the cosmos. Concentric circles of gold and red radiate from the creator’s head as bright rays. The material cosmos occupies the center of the image beneath the creator and consists of three concentric circles, reflecting the Italian tradition of placing the spheres of the cosmos concentrically (Cosgrove 90). The first ring of the cosmos is blue-green with tightly stacked and fluid wavy lines. Perhaps it reflects the billowing cloud symbols used in medieval, religious, cosmographical diagrams to represent a boundary where human senses are obscured, or perhaps it is the waters above the firmament as outlined in the Genesis creation narrative (Cosgrove 90). Next is the second ring of the cosmos which is twice as thick as the first. This ring contains celestial bodies, clouds, and birds in flight, all of which can be perceived by man. Varying shades of blue dominate the ring and yellow is used as a sharp contrast to denote the celestial bodies—sun, moon, and stars. The final sphere is a central Eden landscape which two human occupants, likely Adam and Eve. The figures are unclothed and surrounded by a green landscape and diverse wildlife. A body of blue water surrounds the landmass, and a sharp toothed sea creature occupies the bottom left waters. Four rivers radiate from the center of paradise (the Phison, Gehon, Tigris, and Euphrates). (Kaitlin Schaible '19)
The Luther Bible, 1534. Weimar, Germany. Stiftung Weimarer Klassik, Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, Shelf mark, vol 1: C1, l:58b; vol. 2: C1, l:58c.
Martin Luther. Biblia, Das Ist, Die Gantze Heilige Schrifft Deudsch, ed. Stephan Füssel. Köln: Taschen, 2003.
https://www.smu.edu/~/media//Site/Bridwell/Exhibitions/ProthroBibles/Reformation/B-234Luther_1000.ashx
Carleton Gould Library, Special Collections (Books, Quarto) BS239 2003
This map depicts central Europe, from the Baltic Sea down to Venice, and from Flanders to the Crimean peninsula. It mainly focuses on cities and the major natural features of the landscape, such as seas, major lakes and rivers, and large forests, as well as many islands. A clear effort was made to be faithful to the current knowledge of the area, with many places and modern cities easily recognizable. Every city, body of water, and region is labeled in Latin. Each city is represented by a little drawing of a building, or several buildings for larger cities. The city of Varad, now Oradea in Transylvania, for example, is drawn as a large castle, but the many large settlements along the Rhine River are each drawn as multiple large buildings, also indicating their size, but showing that they are different, perhaps less hostile to the people making the map. Similarly, the forests are drawn with trees of different sizes and densities in different places, holding a lot of detail about the terrain in a very simple way. These features keep the map feeling uncluttered and simple without compromising on detail. There was also a lot of care paid to the rivers, with many minor rivers filled in where a different map maker might not have deemed them important enough for such a large scale map. The map was clearly made through different accounts of regions being synthesized into one whole map, as some places appear to be out of place slightly when compared to the entire map, but everything is extremely precise relative to the things close to them. It is also notable that the bottom edge of the map had been drawn, and then a decision was made to continue south, likely as a new source was found with knowledge of that southern area. The map is also written in Latin instead of German or any other commonly spoken language of the area at that time, indicating that this is more of an academic source than one designed for popular consumption. (Nicholas McGlashan 2027)
Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, La214
Kreuer, Werner. Monumenta cartographica 1490-1525 : kartographische Denkmäler, ein Triumph über die Zeit : Essener Bearbeitung von sechs Tafeln aus der Frühzeit der Kartographie mit sechs Vollfaksimilierungen. Essen: Institut für Geographie der Universität GH Essen, 1996.
Special Collections (Flat Files) ; GA873.5 .K73 1996
Considered to be the first illuminated manuscript of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, the Dante Poggiali (named for the man who discovered it) contains the full story of Dante’s tour of hell, purgatory, and heaven. The illustration here is one of the largest and most detailed in the several hundred page volume. Decorated with vibrant colors and gold leaf, the work is loosely attributed to Pacino di Buonaguida, a Florentine painter who follows the style of the hugely influential Giotto and his humanist concern. Giotto’s artwork, like the image of Dante in the cosmos, is concerned with reconciling the human experience with the mystical nature of God’s creation. In humanist tradition, while the figures look true to life, the setting of the cosmos is abstract, merging the worlds of mortal life and God. The Dante Poggiali attempts to symbolically represent that which, according to the story, cannot ordinarily be comprehended by man. In the narrative, Dante himself is blinded by the heavens and puzzled by the order of nature, which must be described for him as he ascends away from the Earth. The lack of detail in the representation of the cosmos invites the viewer to map the particulars of space themselves, aided by the accompanying text. The character Dante is guided through the cosmic realms by the poet Virgil and eventually his lost love Beatrice, as seen here. Dante, in his typical red, is led by the embrace of the winged Beatrice to meet Christ, flanked by two angels. Dante is the only living human in this imagination of God's geometry, making him a first explorer in a space uncharted. The cosmos depicted are set in rings of deep blues, plotting the boundaries of the realms leading to Christ. Closest to Earth is the heaven of the moon, noted by the silver circle, then the six golden planets, realm of the stars, and eventually the place where the angels, and eventually God, reside. What is unusual about the illumination is that typically the Ptolemaic universe is centered around the Earth, with the rings of the cosmos radiating out to heaven. Alighieri was faithful to this classical model when writing the Divine Comedy, since he like many medieval thinkers had access and reverence for classical texts. Instead, the illustration is inconsistent with the poem in that we see rings concentric to the Christ figure and angels, with Dante and Beatrice ascending upwards to reach that center. A possible interpretation is described in Dante’s Cosmos and the Geometry of Paradise, where the universe is made up of distinct but connected layers or sheets of space, allowing both a central Earth and a central realm of God in paradise simultaneously. Another inconsistency with the poem is that Dante and Beatrice never meet a human visualization of Christ, yet he floats before them in the Dante Poggiali painting. The artist perhaps intended to represent the movement of the character’s ascension through vast space toward God rather than a literal image of the cosmos. Canto I, the section the illustration precedes, is whimsical and philosophical rather than describing plot action. Here, the visual effect aims to reflect Dante’s wonder as opposed to a mimetic order of the universe. (Bella Crum 2025)
Rome, Biblioteca nazionale centrale di Firenze, Pal. 313
Carleton Library Special Collections (Horizontal Shelving)(PQ4301 .A1 2013
Depiction of Hell from the Divina Commedia: Codex Altonensis
On the page directly preceding the title page in the Divine Comedy manuscript, a full-page circular diagram is shown representing Dante’s depiction of Hell, Dante’s first stop along his epic journey across multiple spiritual realms. Outlined with a thin red line, this large circular diagram is eyeball-like: mostly white, but a small dark circle in the center. Around the dark circle, ten concentric circles of Italian writing expand outward, creating an illusion that one must descend to reach the darkness. This illusion of descension is significant in that Lucifer alone occupies the space at “the lowest and narrowest point of the universe” which is “the greatest distance from God.” Depicting Hell as a set of circles heading downward to the figure of Satan draws heavily on cosmographical charts with concentric circles showing the earth, "terra", in the center. Satan’s head and upper body is shown in frontal view within the dark circle at the center of the page, like an icon. Satan is depicted as a hairy monster with three faces and taloned wings on either side of its human-like abdomen. Each of Satan’s blood-smeared faces is in the middle of consuming naked human bodies, which drip with blood and are labeled with Italian names. The faces on either side are eating the human bodies leg-first, so that the humans’ arms and screaming heads drape out of its mouths. Satan’s middle face has completely engulfed the top-half of a human, and its arms hold the remaining legs steady as it stuffs the human’s waist into its mouth. Despite being mostly consumed, the human’s feet still brace against the demon’s chest in resistance. Satan’s two visible eyes face forward to the viewer, and its expressions seems to frown and scream. Dante and Virgil are portrayed in two places, both outside but touching the circular diagram. In the upper left corner, Virgil is shown bringing Dante into a dark arched doorway, presumably leading down to Hell. In the lower left, Dante and Virgil are shown sliding on their bellies out the mouth of a tube, toward a small blue circle in the corner of the page. The portrayal of Dante and Virgil together in two different moments on the page is characteristic of the medieval illustration style of demonstrating moments occurring in more than one space and time within one image. The page is slightly transparent, so the large blue illustration on the other side of the page shows through slightly. Ella Stack 22’
Christianeum (Hamburg-Altona, Hamburg, Germany) Bibliothek Manuscript Codex Altonensis
Dante Alighieri, Hans. Haupt, Hans Ludwig Scheel, and Bernhard. Degenhart. Divina commedia : Codex Altonensis Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1965.
Special Collections (Folio) (PQ4301 .A1 1965)