Quando la miniatura incontra la carta nautica: Nicolò di Pietro e le illustrazioni del ms. Douce 390

This essay focuses on a Venetian nautical atlas of the first decade of the 15th century, now preserved in Oxford (Bodleian Library, ms Douce 390 and Douce 390*). The atlas consists of several portolan charts with coast maps from the Black Sea to the Atlantic, and is embellished by full-page miniatures representing the Annunciation and the Saints Mark and Paul. Both the size of the illuminations, as well as the refined manufacture of the atlas and its perfect state of preservation, make it possible to consider it a luxury product. Moreover, the study brings evidence to the hypothesis that the author of the miniatures is the painter Nicolò di Pietro, one of the most important personalities in Venice in the late Middle Ages. All these considerations bring to the conclusion that the atlas was not conceived as a nautical tool, for a practical function, but, instead, it was customised to his owner’s wishes, and probably linked to his devotional and meditative practices.