Name/Title
Sea Creature from Italia AntiquaDescription
Sea Creature from Italia Antiqua
c. 1580–1583
After a fresco designed by Ignazio Danti
Gallery of Maps, Vatican Museums
This model is based on a sea creature depicted in the fresco Italia Antiqua, part of the map cycle commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII. The original appears in the lower right-hand region of the map, in the waters off southern Italy.
In Renaissance cartography, such creatures were not merely decorative. They marked spaces of uncertainty and conveyed the limits of geographic knowledge, blending observation, imagination, and symbolic meaning. This figure reflects that tradition, combining recognizable marine features with exaggerated and fantastical elements.Create Date
October 5, 2025Update Date
September 18, 2026
