World map (mappamundi) and portolan charts by Pietro Vesconte in a Sanudo manuscript, Vatican Pal. lat. 1362 pt. A
Land- und Seekarten (Portolane) [catalogue title]; mappamundi
Pietro Vesconte (cartographer), maps accompanying Marino Sanudo's Liber secretorum fidelium crucis
How we know
compilation Assembled from earlier sources. The author did not observe it directly.
Compilation: portolan-chart coastlines combined with a circular mappamundi of Asia drawn from written sources (Sanudo's crusading treatise), with early Mongol-era information; no observation of Asia by the maker.
Research notes
- Catalogue (DigiVatLib) attributes the maps to Pietro Vesconte; several Sanudo manuscripts (BL Add MS 27376, Paris, Vatican) carry variants of the same map set, so this copy is one witness among siblings rather than a unique original. Shelfmark on DigiVatLib must be written 'MSS_Pal.lat.1362.pt.A' (other forms return 404).
- The BL copy Add MS 27376 could not be checked (BL digitised manuscripts offline since 2023).
Why it matters
The Vesconte-Sanudo mappamundi is the first Western world map made after the Mongol conquests with a portolan-style frame; it shows the Latin West's early 14th-century picture of Asia at the moment 'Tartari' entered European geography (Sanudo's text discusses Tartar alliances). A companion to the BL Add MS 27376 copy.
Places named
Whole known world with East at top; Asia including Scythia, India, the Caspian, the Tartar lands of Sanudo's text; Mediterranean and Black Sea portolans
Who copied whom
No copying traced for this map yet. See the family trees.
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