"Columbus" Map

"Columbus" Map

The “Columbus” Map (Carta de Cristóbal Colón) combines a portolan chart and a mappamundi on a single piece of parchment. In only four colors (red, green, black and goldleaf), it portrays both a navigable world and its place in the cosmic universe. The majority of the map is a square portolan chart, complete with compasses and scale bars. Rhumb lines crisscross the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, the Mediterranean, and Africa, and the coastlines teem with port names. On the continents, unique buildings mark large cities, flags denote political territories, and mountains, rivers, and trees decorate the continents. Two human figures, perhaps engaged in combat, and are drawn in Africa, and several short Latin descriptions provide commentary on various locations. Adjacent to this chart, a circular mappamundi depicts and describes Africa, Europe, Asia, islands, oceans, and Paradise. Nine spheres with the sun, moon, planets, and constellations surround this representation of the earth.

This unsigned map has highly contested authorship. Charles de La Ronciere attributed it to Christopher and Bartholomew Columbus, though others have suggested it may have been commissioned rather than created by them, or the creator may have only had an indirect connection to the Columbus brothers. The map was created sometime between 1492 and 1500, based on the limits of geographic discoveries and the political demarcation of a Spanish flag in Granada.

Unknown - Perhaps Columbus

Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Cartes et plans, CPL GE AA-562 (RES)

Single map

La Carta De Cristóbal Colón: Mapa Portulano, Ca. 1492-1500. Barcelona: M. Moleiro Editor, S.A., 1995.

1492x1500

manuscript

Special Collections, Carleton College, Northfield, MN

groshk

Latin

Portolan Chart

Europe, Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Africa

Bibliothèque Nationale de France. “Carte dite de Christophe Colomb.” http://expositions.bnf.fr/marine/grand/por_013.htm
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Galicia. “Carte marine de l'océan Atlantique Nord-Est, de la mer Baltique, de la mer Méditerranée et de la mer Noire, accompagnée d'une mappemonde circulaire.” Accessed June 4, 2018. http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b59062629/f1.item.r=carte%20christophe%20colomb.zoom
Astengo, Corradino. “The Renaissance Chart Tradition in the Mediterranean” In The History of Cartography, Volume 3, edited by David Woodward, 174-177. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2007.
La Carta De Cristóbal Colón: Mapa Portulano, Ca. 1492-1500. Barcelona: M. Moleiro Editor, S.A., 1995.
Siebold, Jim. “The Christopher Columbus Chart.” Map Index #257. Last updated May 28, 2018. http://www.myoldmaps.com/late-medieval-maps-1300/257-the-christopher-columbu/257-columbus.pdf