Portolan Chart of the Mediterranean Sea
This chart of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, extending from the coast of Palestine to the Balearic Islands and the east coast of Spain, is drawn in the portolan style, without decoration. This style incorporates compass directions creating a consistent array of grids across the entire chart, facilitating navigation. The system of wind rays and compass directions is centered in the Aegean Sea. It is believed that this earliest-known portolan chart of the Western Hemisphere was prepared by a Genoese mapmaker between 1320 and 1350.
This chart of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, extending from the coast of Palestine to the Balearic Islands and the east coast of Spain, is drawn in the portolan style, without decoration. This style incorporates compass directions creating a consistent array of grids across the entire chart, facilitating navigation. The system of wind rays and compass directions is centered in the Aegean Sea. It is believed that this earliest-known portolan chart of the Western Hemisphere was prepared by a Genoese mapmaker between 1320 and 1350.