Jacopo Russo

Jacopo Russo was a Sicilian Renaissance mapmaker. His portolan maps were highly illustrated, often depicting local cities and rulers. ^[1]

He authored a 1520 portolan, made in Messina, incorporating such illustrated map. ^[1] He also created a Mansa Musa Map circa 1525, a Nautical chart of the Mediterranean now in The British Library (Add. MS 31318B). ^[2] This map was created for Mansa Musa, the ruler of Mali, then one of the most powerful Muslim kingdoms of Saharan Africa. ^[2] This map is well in the tradition of Italian portolan map, but is remarkable for the considerable weight it gives to northern Africa. ^[3]

Two of his maps dated 1564 and 1588 from the Biblioteca Trivulziana in Milan were lost in the bombing raids of the Second World War. ^[4]

• 
  Detail of Hungary and the Balkans, ca. 1528, by Jacopo Russo of Messina, Sicily. ^[5]
• 
  "Rex Tunisi" (detail) Jacopo Russo, Portolan, 1520, parchment, 105.5 × 67 cm. Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Nautiche Map 12. ^[1]
• 
  The Mansa Musa Map, c. 1525, Nautical chart of the Mediterranean by The British Library Board, Add. MS 31318B, vellum. ^[2]
• 
  "Sultan of Egypt", possibly Hadim Suleiman Pasha, Mansa Musa Map, c. 1525

References

1. Baskins 2022, pp. 32–33.
2. Kläger & Bayer 2016, p. 117.
3. Kläger & Bayer 2016, pp. 117, 121.
4. Astengo 2007, p. 177.
5. Byrne 2017.

Sources

• Astengo, Conradino (2007). "Cartography in the European Renaissance". History of Cartography Volume 3 (PDF). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 174–262. ISBN   978-0226907345.
• Baskins, Cristelle L. (24 November 2022). Hafsids and Habsburgs in the Early Modern Mediterranean: Facing Tunis. Springer Nature. ISBN   978-3-031-05079-4.
• Byrne, Joseph P. (22 June 2017). The World of Renaissance Italy: A Daily Life Encyclopedia [2 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN   979-8-216-16850-8.
• Kläger, Florian; Bayer, Gerd (12 February 2016). Early Modern Constructions of Europe: Literature, Culture, History. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-317-39492-1.

Further reading

• Archivio di Stato di Firenze, nautiche map 12.
• Roberto Almagià, "I lavori cartografici di Pietro e Jacopo Russo," Atti Accademia Nazionale Lincei, Rendiconti Classe Sc. Morali, Storiche e Filologiche 12 (1957): 301-319