Fra Mauro map

The Fra Mauro map was made between 1457 and 1459 by the Venetian monk Fra Mauro. It is a circular planisphere drawn on parchment and set in a wooden frame, about 2 meters in diameter. The original world map was made by Fra Mauro and his assistant Andrea Bianco, a sailor-cartographer, under a commission by king Alfonso V of Portugal. The map was completed on April 24, 1459, and sent to Portugal, but did not survive to the present day. Fra Mauro died the next year while he was making a copy of the map for the Seignory of Venice, and the copy was completed by Andrea Bianco.

The map was discovered in the monastery of Murano, and is now located in a stairway in the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice, but is visible by entering in the Museo Correr, where it is accessible from the eastermost room upon request to the museum attendants there.

World map

The Fra Mauro map is unusual in that its orientation is with the south at the top, one of the usual conventions of Muslim maps, in contrast with the Ptolemy map which has the north at the top.

Fra Mauro was aware of the Ptolemy map, and commented that it was insufficient for many parts of the world:

"I do not think it derogatory to Ptolemy if I do not follow his Cosmografia, because, to have observed his meridians or parallels or degrees, it would be necessary in respect to the setting out of the known parts of this circumference, to leave out many provinces not mentioned by Ptolemy. But principally in latitude, that is from south to north, he has much 'terra incognita', because in his time it was unknown." (Text from Fra Mauro map)

He recognized however the extent of the East given by Ptolemy, thereby suppressing the central position that Jerusalem had held on previous maps:

"Jerusalem is indeed the center of the inhabited world latitudinally, though longitudinally it is somewhat to the west, but since the western portion is more thickly populated by reason of Europe, therefore Jerusalem is also the center longitudinally if we regard not empty space but the density of population." (Text from Fra Mauro map)

Fra Mauro regarded the world as a sphere, although he used the convention of describing the continents surrounded by water within the shape of a disc, but had no certainty about the size of the Earth:

"Likewise I have found various opinions regarding this circumference, but it is not possible to verify them. It is said to be 22,500 or 24,000 miglia or more, or less according to various considerations and opinions, but they are not of much authenticity, since they have not been tested." (Text from Fra Mauro map)

Fra Mauro probably relied on Arab sources, as well as, possibly Chinese sources as described by Ramusio, a contemporary who states that Fra Mauro's map is "an improved copy of the one brought from Cathay by Marco Polo".

Africa

The description of Africa is surprisingly accurate, especially in light of the fact that Portuguese explorers had not yet been beyond 12 degrees North at that date.

Fra Mauro puts the following inscription by the southern tip of Africa, which he names the "Cape of Diab", describing the exploration by a ship from the East around 1420:

"About the year of Our Lord 1420 a ship, what is called an Indian junk (lit. "Zoncho de India"), on a crossing of the Sea of India towards the "Isle of Men and Women", was diverted beyond the "Cape of Diab" (Cape of Good Hope), through the "Green Isles" (Cabo Verde Islands), out into the "Sea of Darkness" (Atlantic Ocean) on a way west and southwest. Nothing but air and water was seen for 40 days and by their reckoning they ran 2,000 miles and fortune deserted them. When the stress of the weather had subsided they made the return to the said "Cape of Diab" in 70 days and drawing near to the shore to supply their wants the sailors saw the egg of a bird called roc, which egg is as big as an amphora." (Text from Fra Mauro map, 10-A13)

The "Indian junk" described was possibly an Arabian expedition, which would have become the source of Fra Mauro's description of the southern tip of Africa, or possibly a part of the Chinese expedition of admiral Zheng He, as suggested in the 1421 theory. The description given for the junks actually suggests a Chinese-type construction:

"The ships, called junks, that navigate these seas carry four masts or more, some of which can be raised or lowered, and have 40 to 60 cabins for the merchants and only one tiller. They can navigate without a compass, because they have an astrologer, who stands on the side and, with an astrolabe in hand, gives orders to the navigator." (Text from the Fra Mauro map, 09-P25)

Some of the islands named in the area of the southern tip of Africa bear Arabian and Indian names: Negila ("beautiful" in Sanskrit), or Mangula ("fortunate" in Arabic.).

Other areas

Part of China

Spain, Portugal and Northern Africa

Europe

The Middle-East

External links

• Monograph on Fra Mauro's map
• Full text of Fra Mauro's map (Italian).