In 1502 Nicolai Caneiro painted a map of the world as it was known at that time. The stamp below is the portion of the map showing Africa. The coast is marked by the names of many places which were known at that time, and "padranos," limestone pillars, set up by the Portuguese to mark their territorial claims. An elephant and a giraffe are the only inhabitants on the interior of the continent.

    By 1506 maps were no longer painted by hand, they were printed. The map by Matteo Giovanni Contarini was engraved by Francesco Roselli, and printed in 1506. The discoveries in the western hemisphere are shown on the map, although north and south America are separated by an open ocean. This map served as the basis for the much larger map of Martin Waldseemüller of 1507. The interior of the continent contains more detail than previous ones. Only one copy of the map is known to exist. It is preserved in the British Museum.