Atlas Miller

Atlas Miller

The Atlas Miller is one of the most famous cartographical works in the Renaissance style. It originates from Portugal in 1519 at the behest of King Manuel I. The work arose from a collaboration of various artists and academics. The cartographers Pedro and Jorge Reinel prepared the geographic plans. The highly valuable illustrations of the maps were undertaken by the talented illuminators Antonio de Holanda and Lopo Homem. The work contains six sheets of vellum with a total of 10 zestfully decorated maps in various formats.

Exciting Geographic Depictions

The map, written in Latin and Portuguese, represents numerous geographic regions as they were known to Renaissance scholars. The North Atlantic, northern Europe, the archipelago of the Azores, Madagascar, the Indian Ocean, Indonesia, the West Pacific, the Maluku Islands, Brazil, and the Mediterranean are all depicted. The map of Brazil in particular, the *Terra Brasilis, is a truly masterful work of illuminated cartography**. The map shows countless depictions of people in activities typical of the country and the natural conditions of Brazil, as envisioned by those artists. Their depictions give evidence of their limitless creativity and great attention to detail.

A Royal Owner

The Atlas Miller was commissioned by King Manuel I of Portugal. The king set no financial limits on the cartographers and artists who produced the work. It is assumed that it was meant as a gift for the knight-king Francois I of France. The valuable work was acquired by the French National Library in Paris in 1897. It was formerly in the possession of the librarian Bénigne Emmanuel Clement Miller, from whom its present name originates.