Joao Baptista Lavanha

JOÃO BAPTISTA LAVANHA (C.1550- 1624).
Map "Aragonian Regnum", 1645 (engraved in later period).
Engraving on paper.
It presents damages originated by the passage of time.
Engraver: Pietro Aquila.
Measurements. 50 x 59 cm; 70 x 80 cm (frame).
João Baptista Lavanha was a Portuguese cartographer, mathematician and geographer in the service of the Spanish kings Philip II and Philip III, and it is believed that he completed his studies in Rome. He was professor of mathematics to King Sebastian I of Portugal.
In the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580, Philip II of Spain sent troops under the command of Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, III Duke of Alba, to subdue Portugal. Philip II realized that navigation studies were more advanced in Portugal than in Spain. To correct this situation, he closed the Paço da Ribeira School, founded by Pedro Nunes in Lisbon, which was in charge of "Mathematics and Cosmography Lessons" and moved it to Madrid to found the "Academy of Mathematics and Architecture", appointed Juan de Herrera as director and hired Lavanha as its first professor in 1582.