Ian-Albert.com Contact Me
( Home )-( Misc.)-(Colossal Images)-( Diego Gutierrez Map of the New World, c. 1562 )
Strip illustration

This map was downloaded from the Library of Congress's map collection exhibit. It's a 300 dpi scan of a map approximately 3 feet square. The map's origins are a bit mysterious, but it is believed to be a political map detailing Spain's conquests in the New World. More details are available here.

The image is viewable at the Library of Congress website, however only in small pieces using a special image server which can quickly deliver any part of the image at any resolution. A special plug-in is available which allows a user to view parts of the image losslessly, filling the entire browser window. By stretching my browser window across all three monitors I was able to pan across the entire image at 100% magnification, saving screen captures at regular intervals, and stitching together the full image in Photoshop. The resulting image is 10,492×11,908 pixels, or just shy of 125 megapixels.

The detail is incredible, and the scan is very sharp. Every single pen stroke can be seen perfectly. Most of the decorative elements of the map fill the entire screen, or more.

Here are some points of interest on the map, scaled to various resolutions.

Thumbnail Animals of Africa. (200 dpi)
Thumbnail The Amazon River (72 dpi)
Thumbnail Chariot. (100 dpi)
Thumbnail Coat of arms. (50 dpi)
Thumbnail Upper-left corner featuring more coats of arms. (60 dpi)
Thumbnail Detail of head at full resolution. (300 dpi)
Thumbnail Sea monster. (150 dpi)
Thumbnail Giants of Patagonia. (200 dpi)
Thumbnail Sea battle in the South Atlantic. (80 dpi)
Thumbnail Another sea monster. (150 dpi)
Thumbnail Yet more sea monsters (100 dpi)
Recent comments
quite an exceptional piece of art, one which I plan n having commited permanently to the flesh, at least certain aspects such as the sea beasts.
Miles
A truely magnificent piece that I'm so glad to have stumbled upon during my cryptozoology searches.So impressive I'm going to go out of my way and try to get a 6ft square copy of it.Not quite sure how to do that yet ,but thats the plan.Ian Albert thank...
thank thank thank you! I would like to attempt to do a woodcarving of this map...wish me luck!
– marcianna
Contact Me