A Navigator of Unknown Waters Born around 1450 in Santoña, Spain, Juan de la Cosa was a man shaped by the salt and timber of the Cantabrian coast. He was not a painter of canvases, but a master of the sea and the parchment that mapped it. His father, a shipwright, provided the foundation for a life spent amidst the creak of hulls and the scent of fresh sawdust. This early immersion in the mechanics of seafaring allowed him to understa…
Scroll through Juan de la Cosa's working life — artwork by artwork, chapter by chapter — from the earliest dated work to the last. Each thumbnail is pinned at its exact year on the gold axis.
The ribbon is divided into shaded bands, one per career chapter. Each chapter groups Juan de la Cosa's works by their historical period — early training, mature practice, final years.
Every thumbnail is pinned at its precise creation year. A thin gold thread drops from the image to its exact point on the axis. Larger frames mark the artist's masterpieces by rank.
The gradient bar beneath the axis shifts colour as the dominant art movement changes over time — from the warm golds of the early period through the deeper tones of maturity. It fills progressively as you scroll.