This cartographic set dating from 1519, attributed to the Portuguese cartographers Lopo Homem, Pedro Reinel and Jorge Reinel, with illuminations by António de Holanda, has enormous historical and artistic value, due to the quality and quantity of geographic information contained therein.

It was ordered by Dom Manuel I king of Portugal and must have served as a wedding present for his third wife, Dona Leonor de Austria, sister of Emperor Carlos V.

It stood out, however, for having been an object of political propaganda at the highest level of the Iberian diplomacy, as it arrived at the Castilian court (Spain) at the time when the Portuguese Fernão de Magalhães was preparing in Seville for the first circumnavigation of the globe. Ferdinand Magellan is the name he was given in Spain.

The map shows the globe apparently “closed” to the west, with no representation of the Pacific Ocean, which, in light of the cartographic knowledge of the Portuguese at the time, would not have been innocent. The “error” would have the implicit purpose of dissuading the rival court from the exploration undertaking, by suggesting the impossibility of passing through the west.

The “Terra Brasilis” map shows the most detailed cartography of the Brazilian coast at the time, barely 19 years after the discovery of the territory by the Portuguese Pedro Álvares Cabral. One of the big questions is whether toponymy is contemporary with cartography, and researchers think they will soon have answers.