Fra Mauro map

The Fra Mauro map, "considered the greatest memorial of medieval cartography", is a map of the world made around 1450 by the italian cartographer Fra Mauro. It is a circular planisphere drawn on parchment and set in a wooden frame that measures over two by two meters. It includes Asia, the Indian Ocean, Africa, Europe and the Atlantic. It is oriented with south at the top.

The Fra Mauro world map is a major cartographical work. It took several years to complete and was very expensive to produce. The map contains hundreds of detailed illustrations and more than 3000 descriptive texts. It was the most detailed and accurate representation of the world that had been produced up until that time. As such, the Fra Mauro map is considered one of the most important works in the history of cartography. It marks the end of Bible-based geography in Europe and the beginning of embracing a more scientific way of making maps, placing accuracy ahead of religious or traditional beliefs.

The maker of the map, Fra Mauro, was a Camaldolese monk from the island of Murano near Venice. He was employed as an accountant and professional cartographer. The map was made for the kings and rulers of Venice and Portugal, two of the main seafaring nations of the time.

The map is usually on display in the museum Museo Correr in Venice in Italy.

The map is very large – the full frame measures 2.4 by 2.4 meters. This makes Fra Mauro's mappa mundi the world’s largest extant map from early modern Europe. The map is drawn on high quality vellum and is set in a gilded wooden frame. The large drawings are highly detailed and uses a range of expensive colors: blue, red, turquoise, brown, green, and black are among the pigments used.

The main circular map of the world is surrounded by four smaller spheres:

About 3000 inscriptions and detailed texts describe the various geographical features on the map as well as related information about them. The depiction of inhabited places and mountains, the map's chorography is also an important feature. Castles and cities are identified by pictorial glyphs representing turreted castles or walled towns, distinguished in order of their importance.

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Wikipedia