Student research on key terms in early modern mapmaking.
This definition of “geography” stems from Ptolemy’s Geographia (The Geography) (c. 150 CE), a treatise on geography and mathematics that had significant influence on early modern mapmakers. In this text, Ptolemy directly contrasts two forms of cartographic representation: geography and chorography. Understanding geography, therefore, can help contextualize our understanding of chorography and its use in the Sandcastle project.
READ MORECartography is simultaneously “the art, science, and technology” of representing and manipulating physical spaces.[1] Its history was alongside technological and scientific advancement, granting cartography a perceived legitimacy. It can perform several ideological functions for a cartographer and its audience, such as codifying nationalism, building empire, and justifying colonial expansion. Cartography often relies on certain persuasive tools like symbolism, physical structuring, and nomenclature to construct its argument about a region or space. It can also represent mankind’s control over the physical and natural landscape.
READ MORELandscape can be described simply as “the appearance of an area, the assemblage of objects used to produce that appearance, and the area itself.”[1] Landscape’s introduction to cartography is considered by some scholars to have been birthed in the western European Renaissance while others suggest that its use predates the European Renaissance in Islamic and Eastern painting. In addition to maps and artistic works, textual descriptions can also fall under the category of landscape.
READ MOREBetween maps and landscapes there are chorographies. This project argues that in the visual arts chorographies, put simply, are representations of cities and their immediate surroundings that utilize an elevated viewpoint[BF1] , comingled visual perspectives, prominent and recognizable monumental architecture, and a general disinterest in charting the navigability of the urban fabric.[1]
READ MOREMaps are commonly understood today as factual and objective two-dimensional representations of the earth used for navigation; however, they are made by people with individual worldviews who are trying to put their knowledge of the world in order[2] . The positionality of the patrons and artists [3] involved in mapmaking is especially important when we consider the historical context of the images. For example, the views in Civitates Orbis Terrarum were created in the nascency of imperial colonialism and in the height of the European Renaissance. Theorists have probed the concept of “map” to produce philosophical definitions of the term that help us understand the multidimensional ways that the images in the Civitates Orbis Terrarum operate. These definitions refute the understanding of a map as a direct replica of reality[4] and consider them as tools for expressing ideological agendas.
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