Come antiche preghiere. Gli atlanti veneziani del Vesconte

• Autores: Laura De Marchi
• Localización: Rivista di storia della miniatura, ISSN 1126-4772, Nº. 19, 2015, págs. 46-57
• Idioma: italiano
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • A painted prayer. Venetian nautical atlases by Pietro Vesconte.

    This article presents the result of an in-depht study of four Venetian nautical atlases of the second decade of the 14th century, now preserved in Venice (Museo Correr, Port. 28), Vienna (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 594), Lyon (Bybliothèque municipale, 175) and Zurich (Zentralbibliothek, RP 4), giving visibility to these splendid products of medieval cartography and highlighting their importance for the medieval sea travels. The atlases are signed by "Petrus Vesconte" ("Perinus" in the Zurich atlas), one of the greatest Italian cartographers of the Middle Ages. The atlases consist of several portolan-charts with coast-maps from the Black Sea to the Atlantic, decorated with portriats of various saints on a gold background, and a lunar calendar, richly illuminated with symbols of the evangelists. The study shows that Vesconte's atlases are the result of collaboration between Pietro and a workshop of Venetian illuminators. These illuminators worked in a very recognizable style, with characteristic features in the rendering of faces and hands that have allowed to identify their involvement in other works such as in beautiful miniatures underneath crystal and in a manuscript. The article finally explains why numerous figures of saints can be found in these atlases and suggests a possible practical use, as manuals for consulting places during a sea voyage and for prayer rather than as nautical instruments.