Vintage Map Sign

Description

Stunning vintage map mirror, Orbis Terrarum Typus De Integro Multis In Locis Emendatus, historical, wall art, picture

This elegant map … more Stunning vintage map mirror, Orbis Terrarum Typus De Integro Multis In Locis Emendatus, historical, wall art, picture

This elegant map of the world, engraved by the Dutch master Jan van Doetecum, was the first world map to use an allegorical figure style of richly decorated borders that would become the standard for world maps for a century. Drawings inspired the elaborate borders in the works of Theodore de Bry, published a few years earlier.

A Milestone in the Mapmaker's Art: The First Printed Map to Include Decorative Allegorical Figures as a Border.

This is a beautiful example of this critical double hemisphere world map by Petrus Plancius, the first printed map to include decorative allegorical figures to embellish the area surrounding the hemispheres.

The map is a stand-out piece; every mirror inch is covered with information and artful imagery. The two hemispheres, east and west, are dominated by a giant southern continent labelled Magallanica.

There are three ships in full sail in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans; above and below the joining of the hemispheres are the corresponding celestial spheres showing constellations in the northern and southern hemispheres. Plancius was well-known for his work on Southern Hemisphere constellations. Squeezed between these four hemispheres are an armillary sphere and a compass rose.

Surrounding the geographic and cosmographic details are the allegorical figures representing the central regions of the world (clockwise from the upper left corner): Europe, Asia, Africa, Magallanica, Peruana, and Mexicana. In each vignette, a woman represents the qualities of that particular place, as perceived by Europeans, while the backgrounds show the landscape, flora, fauna, and people.

Sleek mid-coloured wooden frame.

Excellent vintage condition with few minimal signs of authentic patina. less