Battista Agnese
Battista Agnese(c. 1500 – 1564) was acartographerfrom theRepublic of Genoa,who worked in theVenetian Republic.
In 1525 he prepared an early map ofMuscovythat was based on the geographical data, narrated toPaolo Giovioby the Russian ambassadorDmitry Gerasimov.
His workshop produced at least 71 manuscript atlases of sea charts between 1534 and 1564, more cheaply thanDieppe mapsbut still considered of fine craftsmanship. The charts normally includedlatitudebut notlongitude,along with various decorative features.
One of Agnese's best-known works is anatlasof the world commissioned byCharles Vfor his son,Philip II.Apparently produced around 1542, it depictsBaja Californiacorrectly 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 world map the route of the voyage ofFerdinand Magellan,and the route toPeruvia theIsthmus of Panama,where a lot of the Spanish gold was found.
References
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- 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.
- Library of Congress:Agnese Atlas. Portolan atlas of 9 charts and a world map, etc. Dedicated to Hieronymus Ruffault, Abbot of St. Vaast. (1544)
- Atlas de Battista Agnese,1544, digitized inBiblioteca Digital Hispánica,Biblioteca Nacional de España
- John Carter Brown Library,digitized imagesfrom the Atlas of Portolan Charts.
