Gallery Asset

A precise map of Portugal by Fernando Alvares Seco

Fernando Alvares Seco (fl. 1561-85) was a Portuguese mathematician and cartographer who made the first known map of Portugal. It was engraved by Sebastiano del Re and published in Rome in 1561. Abraham Ortelius (1527-98), a cartographer and map publisher from Antwerp, later reprinted the map in his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theater of the world) in May 1570. From 1564 to 1570, Ortelius made maps of his own, but in 1570 turned to publishing the Theatrum. Known as the world’s first atlas, this work included maps by many well-known cartographers. It was issued in numerous editions between 1570 and 1612, in Latin, Dutch, German, French, Spanish, English, and Italian. This map is possibly from the Latin edition of 1579. It is oriented with north on the right, placing the Algarve, at the southwestern corner of the Iberian Peninsula, in the upper left of the map.