8. Carta nautica, ca. 1471-82

Color Plate 8

Carta nautica: Francia, Spagna, Africa occidentali, circa 1472. Estensi Digital Library, Biblioteca Estense Universitaria, Modena, Italy. Permission pending from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, Italy.


This is the oldest extant Portuguese chart, and it was created by an anonymous chartmaker sometime between 1471 and 1482. The chart shows the Atlantic coastline from the Bay of Biscay to the Gulf of Guinea, and it presents only the entrance to the Mediterranean. Although an Atlantic chart, it contains all of the basic elements of the Mediterranean chartmaking tradition: rhumbs, coastlines, a scale, toponyms, and a few illuminations, including compass roses, flags, and cityscapes. The chartmaker placed the centerpoint within West Africa, due south of Cabo de Gué, a Portuguese trading post. The invisible circle created from this central point is made visible by intersection points along the circumference, some of which are decorated with compass roses. The center point has sixteen points and sixteen rhumbs extending from it, but all of the sub-points on the chart have all thirty-two points and rhumbs. The invisible circle extends to the edges of the vellum and encloses the geographic information on the chart. The chart is part of the collection of the Biblioteca Estense Universitaria in Modena, Italy. To consult it in the Estensi Digital Library, click here.