Australia: Prime Minister Rutte and the Abel Tasman Map

PM Rutte in the State Library of New South Wales on 9 October (photo: Elin Bandmann).

Australia: Prime Minister Rutte and the Abel Tasman Map

Australian-Dutch maritime heritage in the spotlight during PM’s visit to Australia.

During his recent visit to Australia, between 9 and 11 October, Dutch Prime Minister Rutte visited the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney. One of the Library’s most valued possessions, the Tasman Map, displays the results of Dutch explorer Abel Tasman’s two voyages to the southern ocean between 1642 and 1644. PM Rutte was able to closely observe the map along with the Huijdecoper manuscript by Tasman and Blaeu's Atlas Major.

Admiring a marble Tasman Map

The Prime Minister also admired the vestibule mosaic floor – a marble version of the Tasman Map with inlays of brass and coloured marble granules. The floor was created in the years 1939-1941 by the Melocco Brothers, Sydney’s then leading marble and mosaic workers.

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