Portolan Map of the Old World - Cod.icon. 131 Facsimile Edition

The Portolan Map of the Old World preserves the technical precision and imaginative reach of early sixteenth-century cartography. Kept today in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek as Cod.icon. 131, the map is dated to around 1505 and appears to belong to the wider cartographic culture of Genoa or Venice, the two great Italian centers of portolan production in this period. The manuscript consists of one parchment leaf and is inscribed in Latin.

A Chart Shaped by Maritime Knowledge

This map belongs to the distinguished tradition of the portolan chart, the hand-drawn nautical map developed for practical navigation. Such charts were typically drawn on a single sheet of parchment or sheepskin and organized around coastlines, ports, compass systems, and measured distances that could be read with navigational tools. In this way, the chart reflects a world understood through routes, shorelines, and points of arrival rather than through abstract geography alone.

Surface, Detail, and Visual Authority

The map is especially remarkable for the richness of its inland imagination. It presents a strikingly detailed mountain chain extending from Spain to the Urals, while the regions of Africa and Asia are animated by figures of rulers identified by name. The accompanying inscriptions begin with capital letters, and the cities of Jerusalem and Mecca are given particular prominence, creating a visual hierarchy that joins navigation, geography, and cultural memory. Even the visible holes in the parchment suggest that the map once functioned as a working object, likely fixed for consultation during use.

An Instrument Between Sea and Land

More than a navigational aid, the Portolan Map of the Old World embodies a moment when practical seafaring knowledge and the desire to picture distant lands converged on parchment. It survives as both a functional chart and a refined image of the known world at the threshold of global expansion.