3627

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 102; Larghezza: 184

inchiostro

The original author was Juan de la Cosa (1460-1510), owner of the Santa Maria, pilot and cartographer for Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci. He created it for the Spanish monarchs upon his return to Cadiz in 1500. The map was drawn vertically, with the West at the top and the East at the bottom. At the top is an effigy of Saint Christopher, perhaps a tribute to his captain. The map is crossed by two red horizontal lines, indicating the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator. A blue vertical line indicates the division of influence between Castile and Portugal, established by Pope Alexander VI's bull the year after the discovery. The map contains gross errors in the position of the Caribbean islands, which are drawn much further north than they actually are. A unique copy of the original map, painted on parchment in 1500 and kept at the Naval Museum in Madrid. It was commissioned for the Colombian celebrations in 1892.