Weltkarte-ptolemaeus-ausgabe-1548 1-1200x890

Giacomo Gastaldi ( c. 1500 in

Villafranca Piemonte Villafranca Piemonte is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 35 km southwest of Turin. Villafranca Piemonte borders the following municipalities: Vigone, Pancalieri Pan ...

– October 1566 in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

) was an Italian cartographer,

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

of the 16th century. Gastaldi (sometimes referred to as JacopoTooley, R.V, and Charles Bricker, ''Landmarks of Mapmaking'', (Elsevier-Sequoia, Amsterdam, 1968). or IacoboNordenskiöld, Adolf Erik, ''Facsimile-Atlas to the Early History of Cartography'', (Dover Publications, New York, Reprint 1973), p. 40.) began his career as an

, serving 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 that capacity until the fourth decade of the sixteenth century. From about 1544 he turned his attention entirely to mapmaking, and his work represents several important turning points in cartographic development. Gastaldi Nueva Hispania Tabula Nova 1548 UTA

Gastaldi Nueva Hispania Tabula Nova 1548 UTA

1551 Venice Gastaldi-Descriptione de la Moscouia

According to the author Philip Burden, Gastaldi’s 1548 edition of

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

's ''Geography'', "was the most comprehensive atlas produced between Martin Waldseemüller's ''Geographia'' of 1513, and the Abraham

Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a Brabantian cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer, conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the ''Theatrum Orbis Terrarum ...

''Theatrum'' of 1570,” because it included regional maps of the Americas. Yet Gastaldi’s detailed attention to the

new world The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

was not his only contribution to the development of map production. The Ptolemy edition of 1548 was also an innovation in that Gastaldi and his publisher reduced the size of the volume, thereby making the first ‘pocket’

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 ...

. Finally, Gastaldi’s work also indicated a shift in cartographical technique via its use of the copper

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

. Prior to this period, most maps had been printed from

woodcuts Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

; by using a copper plate rather than a woodblock to print, the engraver could render a much higher level of finesse and detail. Gastaldi was described by one contemporary as the ‘most excellent Piedmontese cosmographer.' As a cartographer, Gastaldi worked for various publishers, such as Nicolo Bascarini and Giovanbattista Pedrezano.Tooley, R.V, and Charles Bricker, ''Landmarks of Mapmaking'', (Elsevier-Sequoia, Amsterdam, 1968); Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, ''Facsimile-Atlas to the Early History of Cartography'', (Dover Publications, New York, Reprint 1973), p. 40. But he also occasionally accepted private commissions, for example that from Venice’s

Council of Ten The Council of Ten ( it, Consiglio dei Dieci; vec, Consejo de i Diexe), or simply the Ten, was from 1310 to 1797 one of the major governing bodies of the Republic of Venice. Elections took place annually and the Council of Ten had the power to i ...

, who invited him to fresco maps of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

on the walls of a room in the Doge's Palace. Among his other works is the Asiae Nova Descriptio,

engraved Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

in 1574.

References

External links

1564 Map of Africa
by Gastaldi at the World Digital Library
Maps by Gastaldi
at the Eran Laor Cartographi
Collection
the

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; he, הספרייה הלאומית, translit=HaSifria HaLeumit; ar, المكتبة الوطنية في إسرائيل), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; he, בית הספרים הלא� ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gastaldi, Giacomo 1500 births 1566 deaths 16th-century Italian cartographers Year of birth uncertain 16th-century Italian engineers People from Villafranca Piemonte