Die Insul Sapanto/ Isle de Scarpanto

Title

Die Insul Sapanto/ Isle de Scarpanto

Description

Image of the Greek islands of Karpathos and the neighbouring islands with title loop and sailing ships.

ca. 1648

Artist

Mallet (1630-1706)

Alain Manesson Mallet (1630- 1706 ) was a French cartographer and engineer. He started his career as a soldier in the army of Louis XIV, became a Sergeant-Major in the artillery and an Inspector of Fortifications. He also served under the King of Portugal, before returning to France, and his appointment to the court of Louis XIV. His military engineering and mathematical background led to his position teaching mathematics at court. His major publications were Description de L'Univers (1683) in 5 volumes, and Les Travaux de Mars ou l'Art de la Guerre (1684) in 3 volumes. His Description de L'Universe contains a wide variety of information, including star maps, maps of the ancient and modern world, and a synopsis of the customs, religion and government of the many nations included in his text. It has been suggested that his background as a teacher led to his being concerned with entertaining his readers. This concern manifested itself in the charming harbor scenes and rural landscapes that he included beneath his description of astronomical concepts and diagrams. Mallet himself drew most of the figures that were engraved for this book.

Historical Description

The Aegean is considered the cradle of two great ancient civilizations, the Minoan culture and that of Ancient Greece. Later, the Aegean was ruled by the Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Genoese, Venetians and Ottomans. In ancient times, the Aegean islands, of which Crete and - by some distance - Lesbos are the largest, were a source of cultural development, with a particular focus on seafaring, trade and the transfer of knowledge. The combination of different cultures of the eastern Mediterranean region was favored by the geographical conditions.b