The Most Beautiful Maps and Atlases
Maps have always been a prerequisite for the exercise of economic and military power and were correspondingly valuable. Often centered on Jerusalem in the early and high Middle Ages, "modern" maps with their astonishing accuracy (even before Gerhard Mercator's revolutionary projection method, by the way) formed the basis for the maritime and global domination of the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and English in the late Middle Ages. The rediscovered Cosmographia by Claudius Ptolemy from the 1st century AD laid the foundation for the magnificently decorated Renaissance atlases, which, together with anthologies of city views such as the Civitates Orbis Terrarum, soon became the most popular books of the early modern period and were used by the educated and the nobility to demonstrate their sophistication and knowledge of the world.
The masterpiece of the ancient cartographer Claudius Ptolemy in the dress of the Italian Renaissance: exquisite maps of land and sea adorned with gold and silver for the pomp-loving king of Aragón
Naples (Italy) — 15th century
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One last historically and artistically precious look at the cities of Europe shortly before the destruction of the Thirty Years' War: a journey back in time to the 16th century with more than 600 fantastic city views
Cologne (Germany) — 1574–1618
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Contraband from a spy at the Portuguese court: an exact copy of the famous and then secret world map "Royal Standard" with the newly mapped coastline of Brazil for the Duke of Ferrara
Lisbon (Portugal) — 1502
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The first complete depiction of the world as it was then known on twelve parchment plates measuring over 3 meters long: this mappa mundi is the pinnacle of medieval cartography and the most important contemporary map of Africa
Mallorca (Spain) — 1375
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The world's first modern atlas: scientific knowledge and refined art in the opus magnum of the great Gerhard Mercator with 107 masterfully engraved and geographically correct land and sea maps
Germany — First part: 1585; Second part: 1589; Third part: 1595
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A spectacular milestone of the age of world exploration: Ferdinand Magellan's and Juan Sebastián Elcano's famous circumnavigation of the globe in a unique compendium of the most important documents from three museums
Spain; Portugal — 16th century
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A mixture of geography, biblical worldview and secular history with a diameter of 132 cm: the largest completely preserved medieval world map and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Lincoln or Hereford (United Kingdom) — 1285–1295
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The Christian worldview in harmony with the new, scientific cartography: the large globe by the famous cartographer with Jerusalem in the center and Paradise as a large citadel in the east
Constance (Germany) — Ca. 1448
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The great union of exceptional craftsmanship and utmost precision: 13 beautiful nautical charts by the famous Battista Agnese, including the route of the first circumnavigation of the globe by Ferdinand Magellan
Venice (Italy) — 1546
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The largest world map of the Middle Ages measuring 2.4 × 2.4 meters: innovative cartography of "breathtaking accuracy" (NASA) and with over 3,000 inscriptions, created by an Italian monk of the Early Renaissance
Venice (Italy) — Around 1450
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Impressively represents King Henry VIII's global ambitions for a British Empire: a magnificent luxury atlas by the famous Venetian cartographer Battista Agnese for the English sovereign
Venice (Italy) — 1542–1547
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The world of Christopher Columbus and his travel companion: Juan de la Cosa's famous map showing all the regions of the Old and New Worlds known in Europe, as well as the first cartographic representation of the Americas
Puerto de Santa María (Spain) — 1510
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Almost like a modern travel guide: the only surviving copy of an ancient map of the Roman road network, peppered with practical information on places and accommodations in the vast Imperium Romanum
Monastery of Reichenau (Germany) — 12th/13th century
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From the workshop of Battista Agnese, arguably the most talented cartographer of the 16th century: scientific accuracy and the refined art of the Italian Renaissance combined in a delicate adorned masterpiece
Venice (Italy) — Ca. 1540
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Created almost 1,500 years after Ptolemy: a revised new edition of the ancient standard work in a brilliant cartographic manuscript by the Vatican astronomer Nicolaus Germanus for Pope Paul III.
Florence (Italy) — 15th century
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Precise coastlines and important landmarks for practical use at sea: an impressive medieval map by the famous Mallorcan cartographic school from the mid-15th century
Mallorca (Spain) — 1450–1460
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