ABOUT THE WORK

This coveted 1760 reissue of Murillo Velarde’s 1734 Carta Hydrographica shows the island, contested by China, of Panacot (Scarborough Shoal) off Zambales. Various shipping routes around and between the islands are indicated as the map also served as a sea chart. On the island of Mindanao near the Laguna de Mindanao, there is a Spanish inscription “Aqui estuvo S. Franc[isco] Xavier”— St. Francis Xavier was here.” This bolstered the 18th century fond belief that this “Apostle of the Indies” set foot there. The upper right and lower left corners are enhanced with decorative cartouches. Murillo Velarde asked the printer Nicolás de la Cruz de Bagay to engrave both the 1734 and 1760 maps. Murillo Velarde expressed his admiration for the talent of the Indios (Filipinos) in the arts and crafts in the passage found in the lower left hand corner of the map: “…The Indios [Filipinos] are well-built, have fine features and are dusky in complexion. They become good writers, painters, sculptors, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, embroiderers, and sailors.