Battista Agnese (c. 1500 – 1564) was a cartographer from the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the La ...

, who worked in the

Venetian Republic The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...

. In 1525 he prepared an early map of Muscovy that was based on the geographical data, narrated to

Paolo Giovio Paolo Giovio (also spelled ''Paulo Jovio''; Latin: ''Paulus Jovius''; 19 April 1483 – 11 December 1552) was an Italian physician, historian, biographer, and prelate. Early life Little is known about Giovio's youth. He was a native of Com ...

by the Russian ambassador

Dmitry Gerasimov Dmitry Gerasimov (russian: Дмитрий Герасимов; also known as ''Demetrius Erasmius'', ''Mitya the Translator'' and ''Dmitri the Scholastic''; c. 1465 – after 1535), was a Russian translator, diplomat and philologist; he also pr ...

. His workshop produced at least 71 manuscript atlases of sea charts between 1534 and 1564, more cheaply than

Dieppe maps The Dieppe maps are a series of world maps and atlases produced in Dieppe, France, in the 1540s, 1550s, and 1560s. They are large hand-produced works, commissioned for wealthy and royal patrons, including Henry II of France and Henry VIII of Engla ...

but still considered of fine craftsmanship. The charts normally included

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

but not

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lette ...

, along with various decorative features. One of Agnese's best-known works is an

atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...

of the world commissioned by

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

for his son,

Philip II Philip II may refer to: * Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC) * Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor * Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374) * Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404) * Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497) * Philip ...

. Apparently produced around 1542, it depicts

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

correctly as a peninsula (60 years later cartographers started to show California as an island). Agnese liked to incorporate the new geographical discoveries in his maps. For example, he included in his world map the route of the voyage of

Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the Eas ...

, and the route to

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

via the Isthmus of Panama, where a lot of the Spanish gold was found.

References

*Levenson, Jay A. ''Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration''. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1993. * Short, John Rennie. ''The World Through Maps: A History of Cartography''. Toronto: Firefly Books, 2003.
Library of Congress
Agnese Atlas. Portolan atlas of 9 charts and a world map, etc. Dedicated to Hieronymus Ruffault, Abbot of St. Vaast. (1544)
Atlas de Battista Agnese
1544, digitized in Biblioteca Digital Hispánica,

Biblioteca Nacional de España The Biblioteca Nacional de España (''National Library of Spain'') is a major public library, the largest in Spain, and one of the largest in the world. It is located in Madrid, on the Paseo de Recoletos. History The library was founded by K ...

John Carter Brown Library The John Carter Brown Library is an independently funded research library of history and the humanities on the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The library's rare book, manuscript, and map collections encompass a variety of ...

digitized images
from the Atlas of Portolan Charts. {{DEFAULTSORT:Agnese, Battista 16th-century Italian cartographers 1500s births 1564 deaths Year of birth uncertain 16th-century Genoese people