Atlas of Andrea Benincasa

The 16th century is considered to be the golden age of seafaring and voyages of exploration. Cartographers already began to record the new discoveries on grandiose maps in the centuries before, which were simultaneously practical aids and precious works of art. Andrea Benincasa was one of the cartographers who participated in this development. He came from from a family of cartographers in Italian Ancona and was active in Ancona during the second half of the 15th century.

The Coasts of the Mediterranean, Black Sea, and Atlantic

The 1476 Atlas of Andrea Benincasacontains five maps altogether, two smaller, each on a single-page, and three larger, double-page maps. Sea charts of the eastern and western Mediterranean (from Crete to the Levant, from Gibraltar to Corsica and Sardinia, etc.) and a map of the central Mediterranean from Italy to Crete presents the Mediterranean in full detail. These are augmented by maps showing the coasts of the Black Sea, the Atlantic Ocean (with Great Britain, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, and North America), and an additional map of the coasts and islands in the Atlantic to the Sahara. The last one curiously shows the Antilles, even though the Antilles were first discovered by Christopher Columbus 16 years after the creation of this map.

Great Cities, Important Monarchs, and More

The geographic content of the maps is not only special, but its high quality design immediately catches the eye. The atlas with five portolan charts probably served as a presentation atlas and as such was extremely detailed and aesthetically pleasing. In addition to the detailed notations and the Latin commentary, other details also catch the eye. Three monarchs are depicted among others in a figurative staffage: the Emperor of the Tartars, the Sultan of Babylon, and the King of Musomelli. Additionally, significant cities such as Jerusalem and Venice and large mountainous regions are schematically illustrated. The 1476 Atlas of Andrea Benincasa, with its well-rounded totality, is considered to be “one of the last great works before the advent of ‘new cartography’ in the Age of Exploration”.