The Renaissance map of the master of wisdom and ... copy

The world map was completed in 1587 by the Italian aristocrat Urbano Monte, under the eyes of an expert today, a work of an intellectual master and a copy of the "master".

Fear of space

David Rumsey Center of Stanford University spent money to buy the atlas from Monte's Restoration in September 2017. Previously, researchers had known that Monte nobles (1544-1613) living in Milan had possessions and status, not having to earn a living but could spend all their time collecting books and following chasing academic fun.

At the age of 41, Monte studied map and drawing maps of the world, with many legendary creatures such as sea monsters, unicorns and centaurs. Three versions of this atlas still exist today - one in Stanford and two in Italy. An in-depth study of the Stanford atlas shows that Monte has completely imitated, copied images of legendary monsters from some other world maps, researcher Chet Van Duzer of Central David Rumsey's map storage center, said. For example, Monte copied a strange tortoise-shaped hybrid bird from a map published almost 30 years earlier by another Italian, Michele Tramezzino.

Monte also apparently copied a number of elements from the hand-drawn map of Giacomo Gastaldi, including many sea monsters, portraits of King Philip II (Spain) on board, and the dragon knight, according to the discovery. by Van Duzer. So, Monte's copy is quite clumsy.'If you look closely at some sea monsters, I think it's fair to say that the author's talent is nothing special,' Van Duzer said.

'And it turns out, Monte is very aware of that' . In fact, he asked people to watch the amount of limited drawing skills in a map about his map. 'When it comes to some specific sea monsters, Monte says: They will look better if they have some art training , ' Van Duzer told Live Science.

The winged turtle Urbano Monte painted on the Atlantic Ocean (right) is most likely copied from the map drawn by Michele Tramezzino in 1558 (left).

However, Renaissance map makers were very reluctant to 'borrow ' from other maps and books, or in some cases, what we now call blatant copying. 'In this respect, Monte is not great.' The reason Monte filled the map with many sea monster drawings might be due to 'horui vacui ' - a Latin phrase meaning 'gaps of space', Van Duzer explained.

Even so, the atlas still attracts viewers and provides posterity with insights into how people perceive the world in the late 16th century. ' You feel the enthusiasm of the author - think That way , 'Van Duzer presented his findings about the atlas at Stanford on February 23. For example, Monte described the Arctic consisting of four islands, while Antarctica was eight.

Creative expressive way

The map was drawn on 60 separate pages, when combined, it will form the largest map in the world in the 16th century with dimensions up to 3.24m x 3.24m. Although copied from contemporary people, the Monte has some ways to show off. Specifically, he left instructions on how to arrange the pages into a large map like a poster and revolve around a cylinder like a 2D plate. He also mapped the bird's vision towards the North Pole.

It is possible that Monte took the idea of ​​a moving map from a special edition of 'Geography' by the Greek scholar Ptolemy (100-170) with the modern average, Van Duzer deduced. This part emphasizes, if a map is too big, the viewer cannot move the eye or turn his head to see it all, but instead must move the whole body. Monte's map is huge and most likely he wants viewers to be more observable, Van Duzer said.

However, where did Monte get the idea of ​​the rotating map?'There are many possibilities, but I think it's coming from the globe,' Van Duzer said. 'A globe can spin and bring the observing part right before your eyes'.

Rivers of Eden

Monte's unique view of the Arctic shows a common misconception in the mapping world at the time. Specifically, he painted the Arctic consisting of four large islands separated by four rivers. The same description appears on other maps and most likely comes from a 14th-century book that has now lost to the fascinating adventure of an English monk to the North Pole. The author said he saw four straits flow into the center of the Arctic and disappeared from the giant vortex.

He also claimed the Arctic has a giant magnet rock, explaining why the compass needle always points north, Van Duzer noted. The priest's idea can be inspired by the Genesis section of the Hebrew Bible, saying: 'From Eden, a river flows to water the garden, from there into four branches'. Strangely, Monte seems to have applied this idea to Antarctica as well, but doubled: On his map, Antarctica is divided into eight islands surrounded by canals, Van Duzer said.

The public can view the digitized version of the map at David Rumsey Center of Stanford University, or download its image for free from the Center's website.