Portuguese nautical chart

Reproduction of the original nautical chart hand-drawn by Portuguese cartographers in the second half of the 15th century. The original is in the Biblioteca Estense Universitaria library in Modena. It is number 116 of 249 copies of the complete and exclusive publication, with a study in Italian.

The upper margin contains two bar scales. Orientation is shown by 32-point compass roses with fleur-de-lis. The points are joined to form a large web. Some cities stand out, represented by buildings and walled areas. The exclusively coastal place names are in Portuguese. Some territories along the African coast are marked with standards indicating the landing sites used by Fernando Gomes between 1471 and 1472.