Petrus Roselli, the maker of the portolan chart, was from a well-known
family of mapmakers on Majorca.
It appears that Roselli was Italian–or at least his family was
originally from Italy. His ancestors may have included Italian
Jews who lived in Barcelona and converted to Christianity in the
thirteenth century. Nicholas Roselli, a cardinal, died in Majorca
in 1367. Whether Petrus Roselli was of this family is not known,
but it is clear that his portolan charts were made on Majorca.
Petrus Roselli was the subject of an article by Heinrich Winter
in Imago Mundi. He writes: "P. Roselli may have been of Italian origin or not,
but in the circumstances he must be considered a Catalan and his
work the product of Catalan erudition and skill, which were well
known for the production of other aids to navigation and astronomy.
The contrary view [on his nationality] still needs proof" (Winter
1952, 1).
Thought to be Roselli's portrait and signature,
taken from the 1466 Portolan.
One advantage in studying Roselli is that he had a long career
as a cartographer (two 
decades) and six portolan charts known to have been made by him
have survived, plus two additional ones are thought to be possibly
his, making a total of eight. They date from 1447, 1456, 1462,
1464, 1465 and 1466. One of the two other portolan charts that
are possibly attributed to Roselli is undated; the other is dated
1468.
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Under the Magnifying Glass
