Pierre Desceliers
Pierre Desceliers (c. 1500 – c. 1558) was a French cartographer of the Renaissance and an eminent member of the Dieppe School of Cartography. He is considered the father of French hydrography.
Little is known of his life. He was probably born at Arques-la-Bataille about 1500. However, other sources give his birth date as 1483, although this seems unlikely, given the date of his maps. Desceliers' father was an archer at the Chateau d’Arques and his family possibly originated from the d’Auge area, where the family name survives between Honfleur and Pont-l’Évêque.
It is known that Desceliers was ordained and lived near Arques. He was also an examiner of Maritime Pilots and was authorised to award patents on behalf of the French king, as evidenced by the seal found bearing his initials. He probably also taught hydrography. He made a hydrographic chart of the coast of France for Francis, Duke of Guise.
Cartographic work
He was close to Jean Ango and Dieppois, explorers Giovanni da Verrazano and the brothers Jean and Raoul Parmentier. Although it seems unlikely that he took part in any voyages, he was able collect information including portolans, and he incorporated this information into his own maps. A school of cartography formed around him in Dieppe and included Nicolas Desliens among its members.
Desceliers made several large world maps in the style of nautical charts:
- The 1543 world map mentioned in 1872 in the inventory of the collection of Cardinal Louis d'Este under the title The descriptione carta del Mondo in pecorina scritta a mano, miniata tutta per P. Descheliers. The fate of this map is unknown.
- The 1546 world map (size: 2560mm x 1260mm), made to order for Francis I. It later belonged to a certain Jomard, then to the Earl of Crawford and is now stored in England at the John Rylands Library, Manchester (French MS. 1*)
- The 1550 world map, made for Henry II, showing his arms as well as those of Anne de Montmorency (Marshal of France) and Admiral Claude d'Annebaut. This chart is preserved in London, at the British Library.
- The 1553 world map. This was lost in a fire in Dresden in 1915. A copy is on display in Dieppe Castle.
- Another world map, dated 1558 whose fate is currently unknown, appeared in the International Exhibition of Geography in Paris in 1875.
The Dieppe maps show a precise knowledge of coastlines, and also included representations of imaginary places, fantastic people and bizarre animals. In the southern hemisphere section, a landmass entitled Jave la Grande was shown in the approximate position of Australia. This has led to speculation that the Dieppe maps are evidence of European (possibly Portuguese) exploration of Australia in the 16th century; one hundred years before its well documented exploration by the Dutch. The representation of eastern Canada was well detailed, along with most of the America north and south, just fifty years after the voyage of Columbus.
Despite their great value, both artistic and cartographic, the charts quickly fell into disuse after the end of the 16th century, when the market came to be dominated by Flemish and Dutch mapmakers.
Death and memorials
Desceliers is believed to have died in Dieppe in 1558. There is a statue of him in Dieppe, and a street named after him.
References
- Abbé Anthiaume, Pierre Desceliers, Père de l'Hydrographie et de la Cartographie Françaises (1929) édité par les soins de la société "Les Amys du Vieux Dieppe".
- Jean Michel Massing, “La mappemonde de Pierre Desceliers de 1550”, Hervé Oursel et Julia Fritsch (eds.),Henri II et les arts: actes du colloque international, École du Louvre et Musée national de la Renaissance-Écouen, 25, 26 et 27 septembre 1997, Paris, École du Louvre, 2003. Rencontres de l'École du Louvre, Volume 15.