(An intermittent series introducing well known maps)
Chocolate 1st introduced to Europe.
Titian is painting.
Giovanni Battista Ramusio begins publication of 1st hand travel writing.
Henry VIII has died 3 years earlier.
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland is de facto regent for Edward VI of England
Nostradamus is writing.
Michelangelo is working on St. Peter’s Basilica.
Pierre Desceliers publishes his 1550 World Map.
In the 16th Century, Renaissance Europe’s drive to explore the seas exploded. Trade, especially in spices, was a large motivation. The Treaty of Tordesillas may have divided the world between Spain and Portugal over 50 years earlier, but the other European countries, not being party to the treaty, didn’t pay any attention to it. There was so much to be discovered. Maps changed as expeditions returned and information was shared, overly or covertly, among the countries.
One of the largest mapping centers was located on the Normandy coast at Dieppe, France. The Dieppe School was known for showing very detailed coastlines, odd beings, mythology and the latest information. The maps were intended to be placed on a table with the orientation changing depending on viewer location. With their hall mark Compass Roses and Navigational Rhumb Lines, the Dieppe workshops continued the Portolan Chart tradition. Two map makers of this school were Pierre Desceliers and Nicolas Desliens.
In “The World for a King” Chet van Duzer, an American historian of cartography lays out his belief that Desceliers created the cartographic elements of his maps (outlines of the land and place names), but turned the artistic work over to workshop assistants. These artists added cities, sea monsters and ships. There is limited documentation for this thought. But when van Duzer compared the 1546, the 1550 and the 1553 maps, he found the Tower of Babel had different shapes, well drawn faces vs dots for eyes, a sea monster in different styles and different depictions of mountain ranges. So there would seem to some basis for Desceliers using other artists. Desceliers and his assistants probably produced a large number of maps, but most would have been working maps used by sailors and explorers and have been lost.
The Dieppe cartographers also created maps for the wealthy and for scholars. These works of art were not focused on navigational use, but would show the most current discoveries and were occasionally made of a specific person. Two world maps made by Desceliers for Henry II of France have survived.
A 1543 map is mentioned in a 1872 inventory of the Cardinal Louis d’Este’s collection. It is missing.
The 1546 map was created for Henry II of France when he was Dauphin. It carries his monogram containing an “H” and “D”. The signature is rubbed out, but this map is considered to be Desceliers’. It is now in the John Rylands Library at the University of Manchester.
It is believed that the 1550 map was created as a gift for Henry II by Claude d’Annebault, Admiral of France. The map has the Royal Arms of France and Henry II’s monogram of a crowned “H” with crescents. Unusually, it also has the coat of arms for d’Annebault and Anne de Montmorency, Constable of France. There is also space for another set of arms. In the political world of a royal court, d’Annebault was hoping for favor. This map is now at the British Library.
The 1553 map was sadly destroyed in a Dresden fire in 1915. Fortunately, a photographic copy was preserved.
There is a 1555 portolan atlas that has been attributed to Desceliers. Van Duzer believes it was created in 1543-45 and is an early creation of Desceliers. Others believe that Nicolas Desliens who also belonged to the Dieppe cartographic tradition, is the author. The debate goes on. The atlas is currently at the Morgan Library & Museum.
Chet van Duzer has written an excellent in-depth book about the 1550 Desceliers map. The Ohio State University Library has a copy of “The World for a King“.