{"id":1833772,"date":"2024-08-27T13:30:15","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T17:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1833772"},"modified":"2024-08-27T13:30:16","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T17:30:16","slug":"multispectral-analysis-reveals-lost-details-on-a-16th-century-portolan-chart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/08\/multispectral-analysis-reveals-lost-details-on-a-16th-century-portolan-chart\/","title":{"rendered":"Multispectral Analysis Reveals Lost Details on a 16th-Century Portolan Chart"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a>
Excerpt from an enhanced version of Bartolomeu Velho\u2019s portolan chart of the east coast of North America, ca. 1560. Compare with the original<\/a>. Library of Congress.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Library of Congress reports<\/a> on how its Preservation Research and Testing Division<\/a> used multispectral imaging to bring out previously illegible place names on a 16th-century portolan chart of the east coast of North America<\/a>. Initially the PRTD was brought in to confirm that the chart was legit before the Library purchased it (which it did last fall), but the faded iron gall ink in some areas of the map suggested obscured details that further analysis could draw out and place names that could be made legible again. According to the article<\/a>, this represents the first time the Library has posted an enhanced image of one of their holdings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Library of Congress reports on how its Preservation Research and Testing Division used multispectral imaging to bring out previously illegible place names on a 16th-century portolan chart of the east coast of North America.… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[92,48,66,1326,366],"class_list":["post-1833772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-antique-maps","tag-1500s","tag-libraries","tag-library-of-congress","tag-map-preservation","tag-portolan","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1837820,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/03\/multispectral-imaging-comes-to-a-15th-century-mappamundi\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833772,"position":0},"title":"Multispectral Imaging Comes to a 15th-Century Mappamundi","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"12 March 2025","format":"link","excerpt":"The University of Wisconsin\u2013Milwaukee is bringing in the Lazarus Project to carry out multispectral imaging on a 1452 mappamundi by Giovanni Leardo. This is the oldest map in the collection of the American Geographical Society Library, which is housed at UWM. The Lazarus Project is a portable laboratory that brings\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/leardo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/leardo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/leardo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/leardo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/leardo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/leardo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1786928,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/01\/geolounge-looks-at-medieval-maps-and-travel-guides\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833772,"position":1},"title":"GeoLounge Looks at Medieval Maps and Travel Guides","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"7 January 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Over at\u00a0GeoLounge, Caitlin has a brief and basic overview of medieval maps and travel guides, including T-O maps, travel guides for pilgrims, mappae mundi, and portolan charts. As she points out, only the last of these even attempted to be geographically accurate; the others had other purposes.","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1787573,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/08\/first-you-make-the-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833772,"position":2},"title":"First You Make the Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"8 August 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"First You Make the Maps, a Story Map produced for Lapham\u2019s Quarterly by Elizabeth Della Zazzera, surveys maps and mapmaking for sea navigation from the 15th through the 18th centuries. From the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, European powers sent voyagers to lands farther and farther away from the continent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/portolan-vallseca-1024x644.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/portolan-vallseca-1024x644.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/portolan-vallseca-1024x644.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/portolan-vallseca-1024x644.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1819679,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/11\/estate-sale-map-turns-out-to-be-rare-14th-century-portolan\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833772,"position":3},"title":"Estate Sale Map Turns Out to Be Rare 14th-Century Portolan","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"2 November 2023","format":"link","excerpt":"The Los Angeles Times has the story of a map that turned out to be far older and more valuable than anyone expected. Ann and Gordon Getty paid \u00a356,600 for a portolan chart in 1993, restored it and put it on display in their home. After Ann died in 2020,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A full-sized image of a 14th-century portolan chart on vellum.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/rex-tholomeus-ruderman-1024x606.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/rex-tholomeus-ruderman-1024x606.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/rex-tholomeus-ruderman-1024x606.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/rex-tholomeus-ruderman-1024x606.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1249,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/03\/international-workshop-on-portolan-charts\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833772,"position":4},"title":"International Workshop on Portolan Charts","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"18 March 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"The program for the First International Workshop on the Origin and Evolution of Portolan Charts, which takes place 5-6 June 2016 in Lisbon, Portugal, is now live. The conference focuses on\u00a0the history of portolan charts and\u00a0the analytical techniques used\u00a0to study them. [via]","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"maggiolo-portolan","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/maggiolo-portolan-1024x672.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/maggiolo-portolan-1024x672.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/maggiolo-portolan-1024x672.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/maggiolo-portolan-1024x672.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5355,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/10\/the-avignon-chart\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833772,"position":5},"title":"The Avignon Chart","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"20 October 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"Though I haven't seen it, the most recent issue of Maps and History reports on the discovery of a fragment of an early portolan chart in the departmental archives of the Vaucluse. The so-called Avignon Chart (Carte d'Avignon) dates to around 1300, making it one of the earlier portolan charts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/carte-avignon-189x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1833772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1833772"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1833772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1833775,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1833772\/revisions\/1833775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1833772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1833772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1833772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}