Jaime: The unfinished six-sheet "Miller Atlas"
circa 1519 to 1522,
now preserved in France's Bibliotheque nationale,
is a testament to sixteenth-century advances
in the art and science of mapmaking.
Created by Portuguese cartographers Pedro Reinel,
his son Jorge, and Lopo Homem,
it is the first atlas to document the newly discovered lands
in the West and their colonization by European powers.
Brazil came under Portuguese control
with the Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494,
which divided the New World between Portugal and Spain.
Spread across a folded sheet of vellum, calfskin,
Terra Brasilis, the land of Brazil
shows the coastline, maritime measurements,
and colorful miniature images by Antonio de Holanda.
The map is theoretically meant to be useful to sailors:
it is a Portolan map,
a highly accurate nautical chart
that provides necessary navigation information
including the locations and names of accessible ports,
here written upside-down
in tiny scarlet and black handwriting.
Some of the bays are illustrated with forking rivers,
inlets, and obstacles to avoid.
However, the richly decorated vellum
would be an impractical tool on the high seas.
To a Portuguese audience, the exotic appeal of Brazil
is communicated through the native Brazilians,
wild animals, and unfamiliar plant life
depicted across the country itself.
The landscape showcases the famous forests of brazilwood,
a high-quality red-orange wood used to make dye
that Portugal quickly began to import and monopolize.
At the top, men pace through the felled trees,
wearing brightly feathered costumes
and headdresses and holding bows.
Below them, nude figures chop brazilwood
and collect it in bundles.
Wild animals observe the human figures:
a realistic bear and a dog, or coyote-like animal,
contrast to the winged reptile that resembles a dragon.
All across the scene, vibrant pink-red, cerulean,
and navy-blue parrots swoop and perch.
The map is also decorated
with the Portuguese coat of arms, compasses,
and ships at sea.
Perhaps boasting at Portuguese control
and the economic benefits of Brazil,
the map piques the viewer's interest
in this fertile, exotic, alien land.