A Genoese Map of 1480

A beautiful example of a 15th century nautical chart, rightful pride of the Genoese cartographic school, which was one of the most important in Medieval Europe, as you can see from the author's signature:

ALBINUS DE CHANEPA CIVIS
JANUE COMPOSUIT HANC CARTAM
ANNO DNI MCCCCLXXX
DE MENSE MARCIJ IN JANUA

It was from a familiarity with these, of which the warehouses of the Genoese merchants were probably full at the time of Columbus's youth, that the young Christopher learned the art of map making and perhaps the conviction that the "fantastic" islands, drawn in the western part of the Dark Sea, were nothing more than the furthermost islands of the East Indies.