Map of the World
1480
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1480
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This image is a hand-colored map of the world from the 1400s. It’s drawn on a square piece of paper with a red border, showing landmasses in light green and yellow. The map is filled with tiny names of places—some look like cities, others like forests or mountains. The edges are uneven, like it was cut from wood, and the colors are faded but still visible. The map is missing some modern continents, like the Americas, because it was made before they were discovered. The artist used simple shapes for mountains and rivers, and the text is written in a style from that time. Next, look up woodcut to see how this kind of printmaking worked.
