- Battista Agnese
Battista Agnese (c. 1500 –
1564 ) was a Venetiancartographer .In
1525 he prepared an early map ofMuscovy that was based on the geographical data, narrated toPaolo Giovio by the Russian ambassadorDmitry Gerasimov .His workshop produced at least 71 manuscript atlases of sea charts between
1534 and1564 , more cheaply thanDieppe maps but still considered of fine craftsmanship. The charts normally includedlatitude but notlongitude , along with various decorative features.One of Agnese's best-known works is an
atlas of the world commissioned by Charles V for his son, Philip II. Apparently produced around1542 , it depicts Baja California correctly as apeninsula . (60 years later cartographers started to show California as an island.)Agnese liked to incorporate the new geographical discoveries in his maps. For example, he included in his worldmap the route of the voyage of
Ferdinand Magellan , and the route toPeru via theIsthmus of Panama , where a lot of the Spanish gold was found.References
*Levenson, Jay A. "Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration". Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1993.
*Short, John Rennie. "The World Through Maps: A History of Cartography". Toronto: Firefly Books, 2003.
* [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gnrlagn.html Library of Congress] : Agnese Atlas. Portolan atlas of 9 charts and a world map, etc. Dedicated to Hieronymus Ruffault, Abbot of St. Vaast. (1544)
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