Papers by Šima Krtalić
Imago Mundi, 2022
The birth of the nautical chart in the late medieval period is seen as a watershed moment in the ... more The birth of the nautical chart in the late medieval period is seen as a watershed moment in the history of cartography. So far, however, the artisanal practices that permitted the proliferation of sea charts have remained poorly understood and little evidence has been recovered from extant charts on which to base the production history of the surviving charts. This article describes a systematic exploration of the techniques employed in the copying of coastlines on manuscript charts between the fourteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Attention is drawn to the ways different processes shaped contemporary late-medieval and early-modern understanding of the Mediterranean and what the techniques may reveal of that thinking. By reframing the charts in terms of their characteristics as drawings and placing map making in the broader context of two-dimensional graphic art, and by making use of the ever-growing corpus of high-resolution digital reproductions, we gain new insights into the chartmakers’ changing approaches to the transmission of geographical information. At the same time, a number of directions for further research are opened up.
Journal of Navigation
Despite the crucial role played by nautical cartography during the 16th-century Iberian Expansion... more Despite the crucial role played by nautical cartography during the 16th-century Iberian Expansion, surviving examples of charts used at sea are extremely rare, leaving gaps in our knowledge of how they were used in practice during this pivotal period. The present paper sheds light on this matter by introducing one of earliest extant Portuguese charts presenting positional fixes, which have so far gone unnoticed by researchers: the anonymous chart of about 1524 kept at the James Ford Bell Library. It is demonstrated that a second chart, kept at the Harry Ransom Center, was made by the same author from the same pattern. The production context of the charts is evidenced through a description of the manuscript copying technique most likely employed, and the rules governing chart manufacture in 16th-century Portugal. Exceptional aspects of the charts’ placenames are discussed, and a possible source for their geographical design is identified.
Chart of the Week Series by Šima Krtalić
Jacopo Russo, Archivio di Stato di Firenze, CN 12
Anonymous fragment of a late medieval nautical chart, Vatican Library, Vat.lat.14207
MA Thesis by Šima Krtalić
MA Thesis, 2018
This thesis presents an interdisciplinary, multi-analytical investigation of the early 17th-centu... more This thesis presents an interdisciplinary, multi-analytical investigation of the early 17th-century colored maps of Pedro Barreto de Resende in António Bocarro's 'Livro das plantas de todas as fortalezas...', a codex made in Goa and currently housed at the Biblioteca Pública de Évora. The work addresses previously unexplored aspects of the maps, including issues of authorship, the possibility of cross-cultural collaboration during their production, and the way their design and use of maps signs depict late-stage empire. In addition, the findings contribute to the small but growing literature on the material characteristics of cartographic works.
Supervisor: Cristina Maria Barrocas Dias (Universidade de Évora)
Co-supervisors: Catarina Miguel (Universidade de Évora)
Antónia Fialho Conde (Universidade de Évora)
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Papers by Šima Krtalić
Chart of the Week Series by Šima Krtalić
MA Thesis by Šima Krtalić
Supervisor: Cristina Maria Barrocas Dias (Universidade de Évora)
Co-supervisors: Catarina Miguel (Universidade de Évora)
Antónia Fialho Conde (Universidade de Évora)
Supervisor: Cristina Maria Barrocas Dias (Universidade de Évora)
Co-supervisors: Catarina Miguel (Universidade de Évora)
Antónia Fialho Conde (Universidade de Évora)