Diego Homen’s Atlas 1561
The 16th century witnessed the science of cartography advance by leaps and bounds. The Portuguese cartographer Diogo Homem was second to none among his contemporaries and produced works that were both highly accurate and gorgeously designed. Homem’s 1561 Atlas includes some of the greatest achievements of his distinguished career.
Diogo Homem’s Atlas 1561
When one thinks of the origins of the fantastic works of cartography that were produced during the Renaissance, murder does not usually come to mind. Diogo Homem (1521–76), also spelled Homen, was exiled from Portugal because of his complicity in a murder, what his exact role was in unclear, but he fled first to England and later to Venice. While living in the “City of Water”, which is really a series of islands connected by bridges and canals, Homem created some of the finest works of 16th century cartography. His portolan charts, nautical maps with a windrose network designating a series of sailing directions between ports, were both revolutionary in their accuracy and masterful in their artistry. The lands depicted have elegantly colored coastlines, contain local flags and escutcheons, cityscapes and mountains, as well as intricate compass roses. The quality of his work is widely recognized and exhibited in museums and collections in Italy, Austria, Great Britain, France, the United States, and in his native Portugal. Homem’s 34-page atlas published in 1561 is a collection of some of his best works and offers a wonderful inside glimpse into the fine art and science of Renaissance cartography.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Atlas de Diego Homen
Atlas del Mediterraneo de Diego Homen
Atlas des Diego Homen von 1561
Diogo Homem Atlas
Diogo Homem’s Atlas 1561 - Type
- Map on paper
- Size / Format
- 24 pages + 8 maps / 46.5 × 30.0 cm
- Origin
- Italy
- Date
- 1561
- Epochs
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Script
- Gothic Textura Quadrata
- Content
- 7 maps and a cosmographic chart, all richly colored double-pages with gold leaf
- Artist / School
- Diogo Homem (1521–1576)
Diogo Homem’s Atlas 1561
Venice and its Vicinities
Diogo Homem was forced to flee his homeland of Portugal after he was suspected of being involved in a murder and eventually made his way to the Republic of Venice at a time when La Serenissima was perhaps the most splendid city in the world. Towering over the rest of the skyline, St. Mark's Campanile makes the cityscape of Venice immediately identifiable. Venice’s symbol, the winged lion, is shown flying on the Banner of St. Mark next to it as is a splendid compass rose, both in gold leaf.

Diego Homen’s Atlas 1561
Iberian Peninsula
As a Portuguese cartographer, Diogo Homem had a particularly acute knowledge of the geography of the Iberian Peninsula. It is thus presented here with a remarkable degree of accuracy and artistic refinement that simultaneously make this a masterpiece of both cartography and Renaissance art – a splendid image of the Western Mediterranean in the 16th century.
Only the highest quality pigments and precious gold leaf were used in the creation of this splendid atlas. Here we see the name HISPANIA presented in a red banderole with gold lettering, compass roses created with incredible precision and artistry, and other details like mountain ranges, cities, and the royal coats of arms of the kingdoms of Spain, France, and the various rulers of the Barbary Coast.

#1 Atlas del Mediterraneo de Diego Homen
Language: Spanish
- Treatises / Secular Books
- Apocalypses / Beatus
- Astronomy / Astrology
- Bestiaries
- Bibles / Gospels
- Chronicles / History / Law
- Geography / Maps
- Saints' Lives
- Islam / Oriental
- Judaism / Hebrew
- Single Leaf Collections
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Literature / Poetry
- Liturgical Manuscripts
- Medicine / Botany / Alchemy
- Music
- Mythology / Prophecies
- Psalters
- Other Religious Books
- Games / Hunting
- Private Devotion Books
- Other Genres
- Afghanistan
- Armenia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Colombia
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- France
- Germany
- Hungary
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Serbia
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uzbekistan
- Aboca Museum
- Akademie Verlag
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA)
- Aldo Ausilio Editore - Bottega d’Erasmo
- Alecto Historical Editions
- Alkuin Verlag
- Almqvist & Wiksell
- ARS
- Ars Magna
- ArtCodex
- AyN Ediciones
- Azimuth Editions
- Bärenreiter-Verlag
- Belser Verlag
- Belser Verlag / WK Wertkontor
- Bernardinum Wydawnictwo
- BiblioGemma
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vaticanstadt, Vaticanstadt)
- Bibliotheca Palatina Faksimile Verlag
- Bibliotheca Rara
- Boydell & Brewer
- Brepols Publishers
- British Library
- C. Weckesser
- Caixa Catalunya
- Canesi
- CAPSA, Ars Scriptoria
- Caratzas Brothers, Publishers
- Circulo Cientifico
- Club Bibliófilo Versol
- CM Editores
- Collegium Graphicum
- Collezione Apocrifa Da Vinci
- Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses
- Coron Verlag
- CTHS
- D. S. Brewer
- De Agostini/UTET
- De Schutter
- Deuschle & Stemmle
- Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft
- DIAMM
- Droz
- E. Schreiber Graphische Kunstanstalten
- Ediciones Boreal
- Ediciones Grial
- Edilan
- Editalia
- Edition Leipzig
- Edition Libri Illustri
- Editiones Reales Sitios S. L.
- Éditions de l'Oiseau Lyre
- Editions Medicina Rara
- Editorial Casariego
- Editorial Mintzoa
- Editrice Antenore
- Edizioni Edison
- Egeria, S.L.
- Eikon Editores
- Electa
- Eos-Verlag
- ET&B
- Eugrammia Press
- Extraordinary Editions
- Facsimile Editions Ltd.
- Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG
- Faksimile Verlag
- Folger Shakespeare Library
- Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
- Fundación Hullera Vasco-Leonesa
- G. Braziller
- Gebr. Mann Verlag
- Giovanni Domenico de Rossi
- Giunti Editore
- Graffiti
- Grafica European Center of Fine Arts
- Guido Pressler
- Guillermo Blazquez
- Helikon
- Henning Oppermann
- Herder Verlag
- Hes & De Graaf Publishers
- Hoepli
- Houghton Library
- Hugo Schmidt Verlag
- Idion Verlag
- Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
- ILte
- Imago
- Insel Verlag
- Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses
- Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia
- Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani
- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
- J. Thorbecke
- Jugoslavija
- Karl W. Hiersemann
- Kasper Straube
- Kaydeda Ediciones
- Kurt Wolff Verlag
- La Liberia dello Stato
- La Linea Editrice
- La Meta Editore
- Lambert Schneider
- Leo S. Olschki
- Les Incunables
- Libreria Musicale Italiana
- Lichtdruck
- Lumen Artis
- Lund Humphries
- M. Moleiro Editor
- Maison des Sciences de l'homme et de la société de Poitiers
- Manuscriptum
- Maruzen-Yushodo Co. Ltd.
- MASA
- McGraw-Hill
- Militos
- Millennium Liber
- Müller & Schindler
- National Library of Wales
- Nova Charta
- Odeon
- Orbis Mediaevalis
- Orbis Pictus
- Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
- Oxford University Press
- Parzellers Buchverlag
- Patrimonio Ediciones
- PIAF
- Plon-Nourrit et cie
- Prestel Verlag
- Princeton University Press
- Prisma Verlag
- Priuli & Verlucca, editori
- Pro Sport Verlag
- Propyläen Verlag
- Pytheas Books
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern
- Reales Sitios
- Reichert Verlag
- Riehn & Reusch
- Roberto Vattori Editore
- Rosenkilde and Bagger
- Roxburghe Club
- Salerno Editrice
- Sarajevo Svjetlost
- Schöck ArtPrint Kft.
- Scolar Press
- Scrinium
- Scripta Maneant
- Scriptorium
- Siloé, arte y bibliofilia
- SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo
- Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología
- Stainer and Bell
- Styria Verlag
- Sumptibus Pragopress
- Szegedi Tudomànyegyetem
- Tarshish Books
- Taschen
- Tempus Libri
- Testimonio Compañía Editorial
- The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership Limited
- The Facsimile Codex
- The Folio Society
- The Marquess of Normanby
- The Richard III and Yorkist History Trust
- Tip.Le.Co
- TouchArt
- Trident Editore
- Typis Regiae Officinae Polygraphicae
- University of California Press
- University of Chicago Press
- Urs Graf
- Vallecchi
- Van Wijnen
- VCH, Acta Humaniora
- VDI Verlag
- Verlag Styria
- Vicent Garcia Editores
- Wiener Mechitharisten-Congregation (Wien, Österreich)
- Xuntanza Editorial
- Zollikofer AG