The Golden Nautical Atlas

Der Goldene Atlas der Nautik

King Philip II of Spain (1527–1598) commissioned an especially tasteful atlas from his cartographer Joan Martines. The work, dated 1587, is a fascinating combination of the cartographic schools of Mallorca and the Netherlands. Comprised of 19 maps altogether, almost all of them are furnished with a considerable compass rose which points in 16 or 32 directions.

Two Cartographic Schools

There were two cartographic schools at the end of the 16th century: the elder was the Majorcan school, which specialized above all else in decorative portolan charts. These maps with the names of harbors were already obsolete at this time with respect to the geographic information they conveyed. On the contrary, the younger Dutch school applied the principles of the Renaissance in order to produce maps, which held more information than the traditional portolan charts with nautical information such as landmarks, lighthouses, tides, and harbor conditions.

Splendid Double-Page Maps

The 19 maps altogether are divided into six sea charts, eleven regional charts, as well as two world maps. They each fill two pages respectively, which the drawings almost completely occupy. These are bordered by variously colored frames. Almost every one of them is adorned with an artful compass rose, which points in 16 or 32 directions. The respective location names are written in Gothic script with red or black ink. Particularly charming elements include small ships that sail over the seas or the lovingly designed architectures above the city names. These fine details correspond to an altogether brilliant color scheme, which is further reinforced by the application of gold and silver.

Royal Cartographer

We do not know much more about the cartographer Joan Martines, who made more than 30 maps and atlases between 1550 and 1591. Having said this, it is known that he worked in the Sicilian city of Messina until at least 1587 and he was summoned to Naples by King Philip II in 1591. This made him the royal cartographer, replacing the deceased Domenico Vigliarolo.