Facsimile of the Catalan Atlas. Leaves V and VI

The Catalan Atlas is the most outstanding work from medieval nautical cartography and the Majorcan cartographic school. It was made by the Jewish cartographer Abraham Cresques and his son Jehuda, at the request of King Peter IV "The Ceremonious" of Aragon (known as Peter III in Catalonia).

The Atlas has six colored leaves. The first two are dedicated to the cosmographic and navigational knowledge of that period (including an astrological calendar for 1375), and a mappa mundi covers the other four leaves.

Sheet III contains Western Europe, the Western Mediterranean, and North Africa, down to the southern Canary Islands. Sheet IV includes Mesopotamia, Iran, the Persian Gulf, and Arabia. It has notable descriptions that highlight the Jewish influence, focusing on the exodus of the Jews to Israel and the crossing of the Red Sea. Sheet V covers the eastern part of Central Europe, the Adriatic Coast, Albania, Greece, Italy, and North Africa. Sheet VI includes China, the seas and islands of Southeast Asia, and visions of the end of the world. The known world ends at a large sea, labeled "MARE OCHEANYM."

The map shows coasts, regions, and towns, and is a graphic and scientific reflection of the best available knowledge in the fields of astrology, cosmography, medicine, geography, and customs from the different cultures in the known world. The maps are decorated with animals, allegorical figures, and boats of the period.