Toscanelli
Full NamePaolo Toscanelli dal Pozzo
Achievements: Provided Columbus with a map for his voyage (“to Japan”)
Born: 1397, Florence, Italy
Died: May 10, 1482, Florence, Italy. Aged about 85
Field & Discipline: Cartography; Mathematics
Education: University of Florence; University of Padua
Major Work:
Map of the Atlantic Ocean
Life & Times:
Toscanelli studied medicine, mathematics, and astronomy at the University of Florence under Giovanni dell'Abacco, and at 20, transferred to the more famous University of Padua, where he studied medicine, mathematics, and philosophy. He renewed his interest in astronomy, studying the optical works of [studied work of] Al Hazen*, and also became interested in astrology. He formed a life-long friendship with [a pal of] Nicholas of Cusa*, who was studying law and mathematics at Padua. Cusa regarded Toscanelli as the most learned living mathematician, as later did [a fan was] Regiomontanus*.
After Padua, Toscanelli went back to Florence, where the city government made him "judicial astrologer". His reputation as mathematician and astronomer brought him into contact with a number of distinguished humanists, scholars, and artists, including [a pal of] Alberti (whose "Intercoenalis" was dedicated to Toscanelli) and [a pal of]Brunelleschi*, then building the large dome of the basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore. [written about by] Vasari* reported that Toscanelli taught geometry (and possibly perspective) to Brunelleschi. Toscanelli discovered comets in 1433, 1449-50, 1456 (Halley's comet ), 1457, and 1472. Though his orbital calculations were made without instruments, they were more accurate than those of other astronomers.
Toscanelli's greatest achievement was in cartography. By the mid-1400s, he had become one of the foremost authorities on the cartographic techniques developed by the Greek [an authority on] Ptolemy*, and he increased his knowledge by studying the travels of [studied writings of] Marco Polo* and by questioning merchants and seamen who passed through Florence. He was particularly interested in the Italian traveler Niccolo dei Conti. At the end of the 1460’s, Toscanelli designed a map of the Atlantic Ocean. But, perhaps because of inaccurate information on Polo's journey, he placed China and Japan more than 100 degrees (or more than 6,000 miles) too far to the east. This reinforced his long-held belief that India and the Orient could be reached more easily via a much shorter westward route across the Atlantic.
After repeated requests from King Alfonso V of Portugal, in 1474 Toscanelli sent a letter to the Canon of Lisbon, Fernando Martins de [exchanged letters with] Roriz* (whom he had met in Todi, Italy in 1464 at Cusa’s funeral), which suggested that the most direct route to the Far East was to be found not by circumnavigating the southern tip of Africa (as Portuguese sailors had done for 50 years) but by crossing the Atlantic at the same latitude as the Iberian peninsula. With his letter, Toscanelli included a copy of his map of the Atlantic Ocean. This letter, which had little influence on the King, greatly interested fellow Italian [provided map for] Columbus*, who was living in Lisbon. Toscanelli is believed to have sent Columbus a copy of his letter and map, urging him to use it for exploration. Toscanelli's idea of a western passage to the Orient was not new to Columbus, who apparently had the idea himself, but Toscanelli's corroboration was gratifying. Columbus worked out that since Europe and Asia covered nearly two-thirds of the earth (230 degrees of latitude), the western route across the ocean would therefore cover only 130 degrees. Columbus took Toscanelli's map with him on his first westward voyage in 1492.
Although Columbus made himself a copy of the middle section of Toscanelli's 1474 letter (on the cover of an edition of the "Historia Rerem ubique gestarum" by Eneas Silvius, now held in a library in Seville) Toscanelli's original chart has been lost and no copy exists. Only three titles of Toscanelli's other works are known, and no text survives. The titles are: "Prospettiva", "Meteorologia agricola", and a translation of Ptolemy's “Geography.” Toscanelli died 10 years before Columbus re-discovered America.
Extra Connections: His work also related to that of [work related to] Kepler*, and artists [work related to] Uccello*, [work related to] Durer* and [work related to] Da Vinci*.
Assessment: An important figure in the development of scientific thought in the 15th-century
Oneliner: Paolo Toscanelli, who introduced perspective to Florence and provided Columbus with a map.
Language: Italian
Father: Domenico Toscanelli
Mother: Unknown
Siblings: Unknown
Spouse: Unknown
Children: Unknown
Bibliography:
- Catholic Encyclopedia.
- Dictionary of Scientific Biography.
- Grove Dictionary of Art.