Although Giovanni Cimerlino was a Veronese artist, it has been argued that the map was most likely published in Venice due to the paper and ink used. Cimerlino's imprint appears within a table upper left, with the initials ‘IP’, on the lower right.

Cimerlino’s map draws from the work of Johannes Stabius (1450–1522), a professor of mathematics in Vienna, who invented a series of three cordiform (heart-shaped) projections later published by Johannes Werner of Nuremberg in 1514. All three were mathematically of equal area (unlike Claudius Ptolemy's projections) and were developed into several influential maps in subsequent decades. The first Werner-Stabius projection was apparently never used, while the third was first employed by 

 for a world map in 1534–1536 that was subsequently reused here by Cimerlino in 1566.

Double-page engraved map of the world on two joined sheets, each sheet watermarked with a double-tailed mermaid within a sphere.

This gorgeous map by Giovanni Cimerlino is significant both for its accuracy and its cordiform (heart-shaped) projection. Following the European discovery of the Western Hemisphere and the general recognition that the earth was round, European mapmakers struggled with how to capture both hemispheres on a two-dimensional surface. One solution was the cordiform projection, which also had symbolic meaning to humanist scholars, linking the human heart, the innate source of reason, with the grander theatre of the world. 

Rich in geographic details, the map is significant for the accuracy it shows of the eastern seaboard of North and South America. It is framed by a magnificent border of angels, cherubs, and putti with architectural columns supporting either side. The map is dedicated to Henry Fitzalan (1512–1580), godson of Henry VIII of England (his arms on the right) whom Cimerlino might have met while Fitzalan was traveling to Italy to escape political pressure in England.  

Giovanni Paolo Cimerlino (sometimes Cimerlini) was an engraver and designer active in Verona in the second half of the sixteenth century. He is best known for prints of scientific interest, including this world map and a group of paper instruments. 

First edition of Giovanni Paolo Cimerlino’s cordiform (or heart-shaped projection) world map, significant for the accuracy of the shape eastern seaboard of North and South America.

Cimerlino's Heart-shaped Map