page_title: Early world maps
section_title: De Virga world map (1411–1415)
hierarchical_section_title: Early world maps / Middle Ages / De Virga world map (1411–1415)
caption_attribution_description: English: The 1436 world map of Andrea Bianco. Français&#160;: La carte du monde de 1436 de Andrea Bianco (east at top)
context_page_description: The earliest known world maps date to classical antiquity, the oldest examples of the 6th to 5th centuries BCE still based on the flat Earth paradigm.
  World maps assuming a spherical Earth first appear in the Hellenistic period.
  The developments of Greek geography during this time, notably by Eratosthenes and Posidonius culminated in the Roman era, with Ptolemy's world map, which would remain authoritative throughout the Middle Ages.
  Since Ptolemy, knowledge of the approximate size of the Earth allowed cartographers to estimate the extent of their geographical knowledge, and to indicate parts of the planet known to exist but not yet explored as terra incognita.
  With the Age of Discovery, during the 15th to 18th centuries, world maps became increasingly accurate; exploration of Antarctica, Australia, and the interior of Africa by western mapmakers was left to the 19th and early 20th century.
context_section_description: The De Virga world map was made by Albertinus de Virga between 1411 and 1415. Albertin de Virga, a Venetian, is also known for a 1409 map of the Mediterranean, also made in Venice. The world map is circular, drawn on a piece of parchment 69.6 cm × 44 cm (27.4 in × 17.3 in). It consists of the map itself, about 44 cm (17 in) in diameter, and an extension containing a calendar and two tables.
caption: Bianco world map (1436)
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