Pietro Vesconte (
fl.
''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...
1310–1330) was a
Genoese cartographer
Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...
and
geographer
A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...
. A pioneer of the field of the
portolan chart
Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian language, Italian ''portolano'', meaning " ...
, he influenced
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
and
Catalan mapmaking throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. He appears to have been the first professional mapmaker to sign and date his works regularly.
Although Vesconte was born in Genoa, he produced much of his work in
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
. He was active between 1310 and 1330,
producing numerous maps. His
nautical chart
A nautical chart or hydrographic chart is a graphic representation of a sea region or water body and adjacent coasts or river bank, banks. Depending on the scale (map), scale of the chart, it may show depths of water (bathymetry) and heights of ...
s are among the earliest to map the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
and
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
regions accurately. He also produced progressively more accurate depictions of the coastlines of northern Europe, in particular that of Britain and, to a lesser extent, Ireland.
Pietro Vesconte's 1311 portolan chart of the east Mediterranean is the oldest signed and dated nautical chart that survives from the medieval period.
He is also the author of at least four signed multi-sheet atlases (1313, 1318a, 1318b, c. 1321), where the various sheets can be combined into a single nautical chart. There is also an atlas (1321) and a solitary portolan chart (1327) signed by "Perrino Vesconte", assumed to be either Pietro himself or possibly a younger relative member of his family using a diminutive form of 'Pietro'.
The image of a mapmaker at work, which appears in a Vesconte atlas of 1318, may depict the chartmaker himself.
Pietro Vesconte brought his experience as a maker of portolans to bear on the
mappa mundi (circular world map) he produced, which introduced a previously unheard of accuracy to the genre.
He provided a world map, nautical atlas, a map of the
Holy Land
The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
and plan of Acre and
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
for inclusion in
Marino Sanuto's ''
Liber secretorum fidelium crucis'', a work which aimed to encourage a new crusade.
There are three known copies of Sanuto's ''Liber'' (c. 1320–21, c. 1321, c. 1325) that include Vesconte's maps, only the first of which is signed; the latter two are confidently assumed to have been done by him, or at least under his direction.
Works by or attributed to Vesconte
The following works have been signed or attributed to Pietro Vesconte.
* 1311 dated & signed portolan chart of the east
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
, held (C.N.1) by the
Archivio di Stato in
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
, Italy.
* 1313 dated & signed atlas of six sheets held (DD 687) by the
Bibliothèque Nationale de France
The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, France. (1. calendar, 2. Black Sea, 3. Aegean Sea, 4. east Mediterranean, 5. central Mediterranean, 6. west Mediterranean and British Isles)
* 1318 dated & signed atlas of seven sheets held (Port. 28) by
Museo Correr in
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, Italy. (1 calendar, 2. Black Sea, 3. east Medit., 4. central Med., 5. west Med, 6. Spain and north Africa, 7. north Atlantic)
* 1318 dated & signed atlas of ten sheets held (MS 594) by
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
The Austrian National Library (, ) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of Vienna. Since 2005, some of the collection ...
in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, Austria. (1.calendar, 2. Black Sea, 3. east Medit., 4. central Medit. (south), 6. central Medit. (north) 7. west Medit., 8. Spain and French Atlantic coast, 9. British Isles, 10. Adriatic Sea)
* c.1320-21 undated but signed by Vesconte, for
Marino Sanudo's ''Liber secretorum'', mappa mundi plus atlas of five sheets (partially missing), held (Pal. Lat.1362A) by the
Bibliotheca Apostolica in
Vatican City
Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...
(2. Black sea, 3. Aegean, 4. Palestine & east Medit. 5. Adriatic and North Africa, 6. west Medit and north Atlantic)
* 1321 dated and signed Perrino Vesconte, atlas of five sheets held (R.P.4) by the
Zentralbibliothek in
Zurich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, Switzerland. (1 calendar, 2. Spain and north Atlantic, 3. central Medit., 4. east Medit. 5. Black Sea)
* c.1321 undated atlas of nine sheets held (MS 175) by the
Bibliothèque municipale in
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
s, France. (1. calendar, 2. rhumb network, 3. Black Sea, 4. east Medit., 5. central Medit (north), 6. central Medit (north) 7. west Medit. 8. British Isles & France, 9. Adriatic Sea)
* c.1321 undated and unsigned, confidently attributed to Vesconte, for
Marino Sanudo's ''Liber secretorum'', mappa mundi and atlas of five sheets held (Vat. Lat. 2972) by the
Bibliotheca Apostolica in
Vatican City
Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...
(1. Black Sea, 2. Aegean and north Africa, 3. Palestine & east Medit. 4. central medit,5. west Medit and north Atlantic)
* c.1325 undated and unsigned, confidently attributed to Vesconte, for
Marino Sanudo's ''Liber secretorum'', mappa mundi and atlas of five sheets, held (Add MS 27376) by the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
, in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, UK. (1. Spain and north Atlantic, 2. central Medit., 3. Palestine & east Medit., 4. Aegean & north Africa, 5. Black Sea)
* 1327 dated and signed Perrino Vesconte, portolan chart, held (Med Palat.248) by the
Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
, Italy.
[The signature reads ''Perrinus Vessconte fecit istam cartam Anno dhi M ccc xxvii in Veneciis'' (Cortesão, 1969: p.38)]
Image:1311 portolan of Pietro Vesconte.jpg, Pietro Vesconte's 1311 portolan of the eastern Mediterranean, the first signed portolan chart
Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian language, Italian ''portolano'', meaning " ...
(Archivio di Stato, Florence)
Image:Calendar from Pietro Vesconte 1313 atlas.jpg, Astronomical calendar from the 1313 atlas of Pietro Vesconte. (Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris)
Image:Map from Pietro Vesconte 1313 atlas.jpg, Atlantic map, sheet from the 1313 atlas of Pietro Vesconte. (Bibliothęque Nationale de France, Paris)
Image:Adriatic map in Vesconte 1318 atlas.jpg, Map of the Adriatic Sea, sheet from the 1318 atlas of Pietro Vesconte (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna)
Image:Atlantic map from Perrino Vesconte 1321 atlas (Zurich).jpg, Atlantic map, sheet from the 1321 atlas of "Perrino" Vesconte (Zentralbibliothek Zurich)
Image: West Mediterranean from Vesconte c.1321 (Lyon) atlas.jpg, west Mediterranean map, sheet from Pietro Vesconte c. 1321 atlas (Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon)
Image: North Atlantic map from Vesconte c.1321 (Lyon) atlas.jpg, north Atlantic (France, Britain, Ireland) map, sheet from Pietro Vesconte c. 1321 atlas (Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon)
Image:Atlantic map from Pietro Vesconte 1321 atlas.jpg, Atlantic map, sheet from Vesconte's c.1321 atlas for Marino Sanuto's ''Liber Secretum'' (Vatican Library)
Image:Atlantic map from Pietro Vesconte 1325 atlas.jpg, Atlantic map, sheet from Vesconte's c.1325 atlas for Marino Sanuto's ''Liber Secretum'' (British Library)
Image: World map pietro vesconte.jpg, Pietro Vesconte's ''Mappa Mundi'' from Marino Sanuto's ''Liber secretorum'' (oriented with East at the top)
References
* Cortesão, Armando (1969) ''History of Portuguese Cartography'', Lisbon: Ultramar.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vesconte, Pietro
14th-century Italian cartographers
14th-century Genoese people