Belgian cartographer, geographer, and archaeologist

Commercially the most successful cartographer of his time, Ortelius satisfied the ever increasing demand for more and better maps during the Age of Exploration and pushed accurate mapmaking toward the status of fine art.

Ortelius is variously known as "Oertel," "Wortel," "Wortels," "Ortel," "Ortels," "Ortello," "Ortellius," and even "Portello." Born on either April 14 or 4, 1527, in Antwerp, Belgium, the son of a rich merchant from Augsburg, Germany, he began selling maps as a young boy and joined the chart colorers guild of St. Luke when he was 20. Some historians speculate that he may have had to work to help support his family after his father died in 1535, but there is little evidence for that speculation. It was common then for children of the merchant class to begin learning a trade at a very early age.

Ortelius's mercantile shrewdness, artistic talent...