Fra Mauro Mappamundi
Title
Fra Mauro Mappamundi
Description
Originating sometime between 1448 and 1460, Fra Mauro’s remarkably detailed and complex world map was created at the monastery of San Michele on Murano for King Afonso V of Portugal, along with a secondary copy, which was presented to the Venetian Republic. Measuring 2.4 by 2.4 meters, the central part of the map is contained within an ornate circular golden frame.
The central section of the map richly depicts the continental areas of Europe, Asia, Africa, as well as numerous small islands. Over 3000 beautifully lettered red, blue, and gold inscriptions provide a wealth of encyclopedic information. Physical and geographic objects, such as cities, mountains, forests, oceans, and rivers are depicted in an elaborate style.
The mappamundi is heavily influenced by a number of sources, including Islamic cartography, as demonstrated by the southern orientation of the map. The mappamundi is also heavily influenced by Christianity and Biblical stories, as demonstrated by the image of the Garden of Eden in one of the four circular depictions outside of the central frame. Another of these depictions, a cosmological diagram of the solar system, reveals another source of information for the mappamundi: Ptolemy’s Geography. The last two depictions are of the four elements and of the earth as a globe, separated into sections by the North and South poles, the Equator, and the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. (Ezra Ward-Packard '20)
The central section of the map richly depicts the continental areas of Europe, Asia, Africa, as well as numerous small islands. Over 3000 beautifully lettered red, blue, and gold inscriptions provide a wealth of encyclopedic information. Physical and geographic objects, such as cities, mountains, forests, oceans, and rivers are depicted in an elaborate style.
The mappamundi is heavily influenced by a number of sources, including Islamic cartography, as demonstrated by the southern orientation of the map. The mappamundi is also heavily influenced by Christianity and Biblical stories, as demonstrated by the image of the Garden of Eden in one of the four circular depictions outside of the central frame. Another of these depictions, a cosmological diagram of the solar system, reveals another source of information for the mappamundi: Ptolemy’s Geography. The last two depictions are of the four elements and of the earth as a globe, separated into sections by the North and South poles, the Equator, and the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. (Ezra Ward-Packard '20)
Creator
Fra Mauro
Source
Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana
Format
Single map
Publisher
Leporace, Tullia Gasparrini and Roberto Almagià. Il Mappamondo di Fra Mauro. Roma: Istituto Poligrafico Dello Stato, Libreria Dello Stato, 2002.
Date
1448x1460
Medium
manuscript
Contributor
Special Collections, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
wardpackarde
Relation
http://www.bl.uk/magnificentmaps/map2.html
Language
Italian
Type
World map
Spatial Coverage
World
References
Dalché, Patrick Gautier. “The Reception of Ptolemy’s Geography (End of the Fourteenth to Beginning of the Sixteenth Century)” In Cartography in the European Renaissance, ed. David Woodward, 285–364. Vol. 3 of The History of Cartography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Cosgrove, Denis E. “Images of Renaissance Cosmography, 1450–1650” In Cartography in the European Renaissance, ed. David Woodward, 55–98. Vol. 3 of The History of Cartography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Woodward, David. “Medieval Mappaemundi.” In Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean, ed. David Woodward and J. Brian Harley, 286–370. Vol. 1 of The History of Cartography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Falchetta, Piero, Jeremy Scott, Caterina Balletti, and Marino Zorzi. Fra Mauro's World Map : With a Commentary and Translations of the Inscriptions. Terrarum Orbis 5. Turnhout : Brepols; Venice: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, 2006.
Cosgrove, Denis E. “Images of Renaissance Cosmography, 1450–1650” In Cartography in the European Renaissance, ed. David Woodward, 55–98. Vol. 3 of The History of Cartography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Woodward, David. “Medieval Mappaemundi.” In Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean, ed. David Woodward and J. Brian Harley, 286–370. Vol. 1 of The History of Cartography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Falchetta, Piero, Jeremy Scott, Caterina Balletti, and Marino Zorzi. Fra Mauro's World Map : With a Commentary and Translations of the Inscriptions. Terrarum Orbis 5. Turnhout : Brepols; Venice: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, 2006.
Rights
Rights for maps held by individual publishers and institutions. Thumbnails displayed constitute fair use.
Collection
Citation
Fra Mauro, “Fra Mauro Mappamundi,” Mapping the World, accessed May 1, 2025, https://hist231.hist.sites.carleton.edu/items/show/24.