Atlas Universal

Atlas Universal

The Atlas Universal by Diogo Homem, completed in the mid 16th century, is a world atlas containing 19 entries covering a multitude of different geographical regions as well as an entire world map and multiple charts and calendars. It features detailed depictions of Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, highlighting both known territories and speculative geography based on the discoveries of the era. The maps in the atlas are richly decorated, with embellishments wind heads, mountain ranges, ships, and sea monsters, embodying both the practical navigation tools as well as artistic expressions of Renaissance cartography. Scale bars placed on the atlas’s maps and charts enable the atlas’s viewer to measure distances and gauge the relative size of land masses. Each map also contains compass roses with rhumb lines radiating from them to aid in navigation and path finding. Homem’s work displays not only geographical knowledge but also an understanding of maritime navigation, which was critical for Portugal’s extensive overseas ventures at the time.
Entries 1-14 in the Atlas Universal are maps of species geographic regions, while entries 15-19 consist of a world map, Zodiacal Circle, Calendar, Solar inclination chart, and Zonal Map of World. Of the regional maps, while most of them are centered around the Mediterranean, Africa, and the Indian Ocean, there are multiple maps of the coastlines of the America’s, as well as a depiction of Japan off the coast of China. The calendar contained in the atlas a combination of sun and moon charts, on a nineteen year cycle. Highlighted on the calendar, marked in gold, is the date of Easter in each of the nineteen years.
All the entries in the atlas use color in both a form of artistic expression as well as a cartographical tool for designating key features such as the shading of the different territories' coastlines in order to distinguish them. The use of color is not however seen in other conventions of map making such as coloring water bodies blue. In all of the maps city names are depicted in small lettering along the coastlines while country names are written in larger text inside of the boundaries of their respective territories. Major cities are also illustrated with drawings of buildings or castles. Additionally, apart from major rivers, such as the Nile in Northern Africa, and the Amazon in South America, rivers are not well depicted throughout the Atlas. Throughout the maps there are also artistic drawings of people, ships, and animals local to the different regions. Overall, the Atlas focuses on providing a comprehensive depiction of the territories and navigational routes of the known world at the time of its creation, with regions represented separately as well as a depiction of the entirety of the known world. (Noah Morris; 2024)

Diogo Homem

Atlas

Homem, D., & Marques, A. P. (2002). Atlas Universal. M. Moleiro.

1557-1577

manuscript

Special Collections, Carleton College, Northfield, MN

Map of the Pacific Coast of Central America from an online exhibit at the National Library of Russia

Portuguese

Atlas

World

Homem, D., & Marques, A. P. (2002). Atlas Universal. M. Moleiro.

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