Paper short abstract:

This paper will discuss the ship travel of Giovan Battista Confalonieri, from Civitavecchia to Barcelona and return (1593 and 1597) and his arrival to Lisbon by boat (1593).

Paper long abstract:

This paper will analyze the ship travel of Monsignor Giovan Battista Confalonieri (1561-1648), collettore apostolico to Portugal under Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592-1605), from Civitavecchia to Barcelona (november 2, 1592-january 13, 1593) and return (june 11 to july 7, 1597), where he describes Genoa and Barcelona as well as many other villages and the climatic conditions of the time, and his arrival to Lisbon by boat (march 11, 1593), where he describes in great detail his experience of the river's gorge.

His impressions will be compared with printed and manuscript illuminated maps and topographic views of the time (Jocundus Hondius etc.) as well to contemporary geographic descriptions of the sites. His prose will be analyzed to understand what visual and scientific education sustained the experience of the unknown, for one of the most important Italian early modern travellers to Portugal.

This paper is part of a larger research project on Monsignor Confalonieri in Iberia by the proponent, who is currently editing the manuscript description for publication [Giovan Battista Confalonieri, Viaggio in Iberia (1592-1597), transcr. & intr. Sabina de Cavi (Madrid, Doce Calles, 2017)].