Portolan Chart by Matteo Prunes

Portolan Chart by Matteo Prunes

This manuscript on colored and gilded parchment was made by Mateo Prunes (1532–94), as an inscription on the parchment itself reads "Mateo Prunes in the city of Mallorca, 1563". It represents an abbreviated image of the Mediterranean world of the 16th century where the nearby enclaves are represented together with references to the New World via two ships sailing in a westerly direction. Its author was part of one of the longest-lived and best-known families of cartographers in Mallorca. Thirteen portolan charts and a four-sheet atlas are attributed to Prunes.

What is a Portolan Chart?

The medieval "portulanos", also called portolan charts, are cartographic instruments that, together with other nautical instruments such as the compass, became authentic tools that allowed navigators to move with certain security among the coasts of the Mediterranean. Its origin goes back to the so-called "periplos" that collected the oral tradition of the Greek and Roman navigators who took the courses following the coast. This experience continued to be transmitted, giving way to the "portolan charts", a geographical compilation that included peculiarities of the ports, approximate distances between coastal features, river mouths, news about anchorages, and any reference that could be useful for navigation. The transfer of all this written information to a parchment or similar surface resulted in what is known as a nautical chart or portolan chart. They began to be made during the Middle Ages in the 13th century and continued until the Early Modern era. They began to be made in a geographical area of the Mediterranean with an intense political, commercial, and cultural relationship concentrated in various cities, among which Mallorca, Genoa and Venice would stand out as major centers of cartographic production.

A Glimpse of the Mediterranean in the 16th Century

This detailed map measures 50 x 95 cm and shows the Mediterranean coasts of Europe, Africa, and the Near East as well as the Black Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean, which features the Canary Islands, Madeira, and two ships sailing westward. A depiction of the Madonna and Child at the westernmost edge of the map accompanies the inscription identifying the Prunes. Compass roses, cities, flags, and coats of arms fill the map in the typical manner of the period but are executed by an expert hand. Aside from being artful, the map is extremely accurate and identifies thousands of ports, cities, and towns. This splendid artifact of 16th century cartography is stored today under the shelf mark PM-1 in Madrid’s Museo Naval, where it has been kept safe since 1926.