Untitled
- Title:
- Untitled
- Alternate Title:
- T-O World Map
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Jacobus Philippus, Bergomensis, 1434-1520
- Date:
- 1503
- Posted Date:
- 2015-08-25
- ID Number:
- 1003.01
- Collection Number:
- 8548
- File Name:
- PJM_1003_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- Before 1800
- Materials/Techniques:
- printing
- Subject:
- Religion
- Measurement:
- 8.5 x 13 on sheet 29 x 21 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- On this single sheet are the two most common maps from the Middle Ages. On the left is a zonal or climatic map, communicating geographical information. On the right is a "T-O" map, "the best known and most repeated of the early cartographic forms." Campbell 1987, 1. See also Shirley 1983, xx. Existing manuscript copies of T-O maps date to the eighth century, "among the earliest survivors of the cartography of the Dark Ages." T-O maps are "Christianized" religious symbols, with Jerusalem at the center and East always at the top, reflecting the biblical location of Paradise (East, in Eden). Asia occupies the upper half of the earth, divided by the horizontal arms of a "T" (the Nile at the right and the River Don at the left). The bottom half of the earth is divided in the center by leg of the "T," the Mediterranean, with Europe to the left and Africa to the right. In some T-O maps, the continents are labeled with the names of the three sons of Noah who settled them: Shem (Asia), Ham (Africa) and Japhet (Europe). Campbell 1987, 1-2. "The three-part structure is thus a symbol of the historical beginning of man's life on earth" after the Flood, and "the T-O map can also be seen as a symbol of the Passion of Christ." (Woodward 1987, 334).
There is an interesting error in this map. Although "Oriens" (East) is properly at the top of the map, and "Occidens" (West) at the bottom, "Septe" (an abbreviation of Septentrionalis, or North) is wrongly situated to the right of Africa. This copy of the map has early rubrication.
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Source:
- Jacobus, P. (1503). Novissime hystoriarum omnium repercussiones. Venetiis: Albertinus di Lissona.
- Cite As:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography, #8548. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
- Repository:
- Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
- Archival Collection:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.