Spain and the Hispanic World, the exhibition at the Royal Academy, covers a huge range of artefacts and artworks so I decided to focus on just one item for this blogpost, a map of the world from 1526.
Probably made as a gift for Charles V on his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, it details the world known so far and, bearing in mind that most knowledge was gained from trading, is impressively comprehensive.
The Red Sea is coloured bright red while the Nile on its left runs down through the whole of Africa.
Coastlines are densely labelled with the Caribbean easily recognisable, dotted with the flag of Castile & Leon,
as is the east coast of South America, illustrated with native peoples, forests and animals.
India looks a bit sketchy compared to the west coast of Asia but this is a trading map.
Then there was this fragment to the extreme left of the map that I couldn’t identify… does it connect to the other side?
Any ideas and suggestions welcome.
