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A Hitherto Unknown Map of PalestineAuthor(s): Roberto AlmagiàReviewed work(s):Source: Imago Mundi, Vol. 8 (1951), p. 34Published by: Imago Mundi, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1150047 .Accessed: 20/03/2012 14:59

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advance in knowledge, but not much later; they might be assigned to about 1508. The map of Italy, of which we possess only three sheets, may be ascribed approximately to the same period or to a somewhat later date; it may correspond to the Italia grande in seipe.Zi of which the plates and also the matrices are mentioned in the

inventory of 1527, just as the appamondo a mantellino due fogli reali in tutto should correspond to the Conta- rini-Rosselli planisphere of 1506. Whether also several of the other maps listed in the inventory were Rossel- li's work cannot be asserted with certitude. In any case, these maps should be searched for: it seems hard to believe that all of them have been lost, and a new appeal in this sense, addressed from these pages, to students does not seem to be out of place.

A hitherto unknown map of Palestine.

advance in knowledge, but not much later; they might be assigned to about 1508. The map of Italy, of which we possess only three sheets, may be ascribed approximately to the same period or to a somewhat later date; it may correspond to the Italia grande in seipe.Zi of which the plates and also the matrices are mentioned in the

inventory of 1527, just as the appamondo a mantellino due fogli reali in tutto should correspond to the Conta- rini-Rosselli planisphere of 1506. Whether also several of the other maps listed in the inventory were Rossel- li's work cannot be asserted with certitude. In any case, these maps should be searched for: it seems hard to believe that all of them have been lost, and a new appeal in this sense, addressed from these pages, to students does not seem to be out of place.

A hitherto unknown map of Palestine.

Among the collections of printed 16th century maps of the National Library at Florence I have found a hitherto unknown map of Palestine. It is a fine copper-engraving, measuring 33 x 44.5 cm, in a mediocre state of preser- vation (a few holes). It is not graded; the scale (scala di miglia) gives 58 mm for 50 miles; the NE is roughly at the top. It carries no indication with respect to the author, date or place of printing. However, as can be seen in the reproduction, the upper part of the map has two empty cartouches one of which was probably intended to carry the title, and the other a dedication. Between the two cartouches, there is a pontifical coat-of-arms - that of Pope Sixtus V (1585-90); the inference is that the map was printed not later than 1590.

The map comprises the coast from Tripolis to Gazera. In the Mare Mediterraneum we notice a part of the island of Cyprus. In the interior, long mountain ranges separate Palestine from the neighbouring countries - Syria, Persia, Arabia, and Egypt. A small portion of the Red Sea appears on the map near Egypt.

This is obviously a map of Ancient (Biblical) Palestine, which is very different from any contemporary map, but does not show any progress compared with earlier maps. Several errors, duplicated names, transposition of localities, etc., are easily observed. The nomenclature is in Latin, while the map is Italian (see the names of the cardinal points: Oriente, Levante, etc.).

The style of the engraving, and especially the oro- graphical drawing, the representation of the most im- portant cities (Hierusalem, Damascus, Tripolis, Beruti, etc.), and the ornaments (ships, etc.) strongly recall to our mind the manner of an Italian cartographer and engraver of that time, Natale Bonifacio (Natalis Bonifacius Sibeni-

Among the collections of printed 16th century maps of the National Library at Florence I have found a hitherto unknown map of Palestine. It is a fine copper-engraving, measuring 33 x 44.5 cm, in a mediocre state of preser- vation (a few holes). It is not graded; the scale (scala di miglia) gives 58 mm for 50 miles; the NE is roughly at the top. It carries no indication with respect to the author, date or place of printing. However, as can be seen in the reproduction, the upper part of the map has two empty cartouches one of which was probably intended to carry the title, and the other a dedication. Between the two cartouches, there is a pontifical coat-of-arms - that of Pope Sixtus V (1585-90); the inference is that the map was printed not later than 1590.

The map comprises the coast from Tripolis to Gazera. In the Mare Mediterraneum we notice a part of the island of Cyprus. In the interior, long mountain ranges separate Palestine from the neighbouring countries - Syria, Persia, Arabia, and Egypt. A small portion of the Red Sea appears on the map near Egypt.

This is obviously a map of Ancient (Biblical) Palestine, which is very different from any contemporary map, but does not show any progress compared with earlier maps. Several errors, duplicated names, transposition of localities, etc., are easily observed. The nomenclature is in Latin, while the map is Italian (see the names of the cardinal points: Oriente, Levante, etc.).

The style of the engraving, and especially the oro- graphical drawing, the representation of the most im- portant cities (Hierusalem, Damascus, Tripolis, Beruti, etc.), and the ornaments (ships, etc.) strongly recall to our mind the manner of an Italian cartographer and engraver of that time, Natale Bonifacio (Natalis Bonifacius Sibeni-

censis) who worked first in Venice and later (after 1575) in Rome (1). The attribution of our map to this engraver is made almost certain by an indication which is found in a letter, dated September 1, 1590 addressed to Ortelius by his friend and correspondent in Rome Phil. van Winghe. Van Winghe announced to Ortelius that he had met Natale Bonifacio in Rome; the latter had at that time completed a map of Palestine, which he compiled with the aid of persons who had lived there, and which he proposed to dedicate to the new Pope (2). In fact, Boni- facio had first intended to dedicate it to Sixtus V, who died however on August 24,1590; consequently, some- one had to do the painstaking work of substituting on the copper plate the coat-of-arms of the new Pope. It is possible that the engraver undertook this work, but Sixtus V's successor, Urban VII, remained only a few months on the Papal throne, like his two successors, Gregory XIV and Innocent IX. During 1591 Innocent IX also died, and Natale Bonifacio returned to his native country early in 1592 where he died on February 23, 1592. These curious circumstances explain to us why the engraving was never finished.

Bonifacio was in the first place an engraver, not a cartographer, and therefore we should not be surprised to see that the engraving of the map is better than its scientific precisionl

ROBERTO ALMAGIA

(1) Cf. ALMAGIA, R. Intorno all' opera cartografica di Natale Bonifacio. Arch. Stor. per la Dalamzia, 14. 1933.

(2) Abrahami Ortelii Epistulae .... edidit J. H.

HESSEL, Cantabrigae 1887, No. 170, p. 408-12.

censis) who worked first in Venice and later (after 1575) in Rome (1). The attribution of our map to this engraver is made almost certain by an indication which is found in a letter, dated September 1, 1590 addressed to Ortelius by his friend and correspondent in Rome Phil. van Winghe. Van Winghe announced to Ortelius that he had met Natale Bonifacio in Rome; the latter had at that time completed a map of Palestine, which he compiled with the aid of persons who had lived there, and which he proposed to dedicate to the new Pope (2). In fact, Boni- facio had first intended to dedicate it to Sixtus V, who died however on August 24,1590; consequently, some- one had to do the painstaking work of substituting on the copper plate the coat-of-arms of the new Pope. It is possible that the engraver undertook this work, but Sixtus V's successor, Urban VII, remained only a few months on the Papal throne, like his two successors, Gregory XIV and Innocent IX. During 1591 Innocent IX also died, and Natale Bonifacio returned to his native country early in 1592 where he died on February 23, 1592. These curious circumstances explain to us why the engraving was never finished.

Bonifacio was in the first place an engraver, not a cartographer, and therefore we should not be surprised to see that the engraving of the map is better than its scientific precisionl

ROBERTO ALMAGIA

(1) Cf. ALMAGIA, R. Intorno all' opera cartografica di Natale Bonifacio. Arch. Stor. per la Dalamzia, 14. 1933.

(2) Abrahami Ortelii Epistulae .... edidit J. H.

HESSEL, Cantabrigae 1887, No. 170, p. 408-12.

34 34

PALESTINE MAP, C. 1590

(National Library, Florence)

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