Vesconte Pietro

Vesconte, Pietro (Vesconte), a 14th-century Venetian cartographer, is considered one of the first professionals in this field. Vesconte is credited with producing both portolan charts (maritime maps) and various world maps.

In 1320, on a portolan chart of the Black Sea, Vesconte places two flags near the Georgian coast. The flag marked near Sebastopolis (modern Sokhumi) depicts one large cross, while four black dots are placed in four fields. Near Phasis (modern Poti), a second, single-cross flag is raised. It is possible that Vesconte is presenting the flags of the Western and Eastern Georgian kingdoms here.

On Vesconte’s 1320 world map, the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea areas are rendered with nearly modern accuracy. The Caspian Sea, for the first time since Ptolemy, is no longer connected to the world ocean. “The Iron Gate”—Derbent—and the Caspian Mountains are correctly placed between the Black and Caspian Seas on his map. Vesconte moved the peoples of Gog and Magog to the Far East, near the ocean.

Between the Black and Caspian Seas, three inscriptions are distinguished: "Georgia" twice, and "Colcia" once. It is possible that Vesconte used these to denote Western Georgia, Eastern Georgia, and Samtskhe. The fact that Colcia (Colchis) is marked on Vesconte’s map provides further evidence that Western Europeans associated the ancient Colchians with the medieval Georgians.

Literature: თ ვ ა რ ა ძ ე  ა., საქართველო და კავკასია ევროპულ წყაროებში (XII–XVI საუკუნეთა ისტორიოგრაფიული და კარტოგრაფიული მასალის საფუძველზე), თბ., 2004; A l m a g i a  R., Monumenta cartographica Vaticana, t. 1, 1944; Portulane, Seekarten vom 13. bis zum 17. Jahrhundert, hrsg. von Monique de la Roncière und Michel Mollat du Jourdin, Münch., 1984.

A. Tvaradze