Painters often paint works which show other paintings, but it’s more unusual to see in a painting a map, a chart …

2. Painters often paint works which show other paintings,
but it’s more unusual to see in a painting a map, a chart …

3. Maps and charts
in paintings

5. a map using glue distemper with silverpoint and ink ...

6. the map of Dante's Inferno ...
...
Hell is represented as an inverted cone, and full of gory details.
Just like in the Divine Comedy.
Dante tells us in the Comedy that this cone originated when God
cast Lucifer down to earth.
Lucifer, as the origin of Evil, is set at the center of the earth,
the furthest point away form God.
Within the circles of hell, the sinners atone for their sins.
The avaricious are forced to push heavy stones around for eternity,
the wrathful and sullen are forever stuck in the muddy water
of the Styx,
the heretics are consumed by purifying fires …
Sandro Botticelli
Map of Hell
La Carte de l'Enfer
1480-1490
Biblioteca Apostólica Vaticana, Vatican City

10. an “satellite” map made in 1502 …

11. ... from an age when maps were created by artists to give a view
of a town's most impressive buildings, their wide parks and the grandeur
of the surrounding mountains,
with the occasional dragon or angel added for dramatic impact ...
...
In 1499, Cesare Borgia's forces had captured the city of Imola.
As an ambitious military tactician, Borgia he needed an accurate map
of his new city (but could do without the traditional dragon in the corner) ...
Therefore he turned to da Vinci.
Instead of providing a traditional drawing of Imola's palaces and churches,
da Vinci showed the city from above.
Leonardo da Vinci
Plan of Imola
Carte de la ville d’Imola, Plan de la ville d'Imola
1502
Royal Collection of the United Kingdom

14. oriented on Europe a terrestrial globe placed upside down ...

15. a terrestrial globe placed upside down ...
Next to the major European capitals such as "Baris",
"Roma" or "Nureberga" (for Paris, Rome and Nuremberg) ...
the hamlet of "Policy" (today Polisy, in the Aube),
the seigneurial domain of Dinteville, and the center
of his sentimental mappa mundi.
Hans Holbein the Younger, Hans Holbein le Jeune
The Ambassadors
Les Ambassadeurs
1533
National Gallery, London

21. a globe and its complement, the celestial sphere, in an fresco painted around 1509-1510 …

22. On the right side the "Empirical" group …
Euclid, bent over and holding a pair of compasses in his right
hand, is explaining to his pupils a geometric diagram he has
drawn on a slate.
Zoroaster, the astronomer, presenting the sphere of the stars
Ptolemy, the geographer, holding a terrestrial globe
and
Raphael himself, the young man looking directly at the observer
Raphael Raphaël
The School of Athens
L'École d'Athènes
1509-1510
Stanza della Segnatura, Palazzo Vaticano, The Vatican City

26. an battle and an aerial map …

27. The Fourth Battle of Pavia took place on 24 February 1525
before Pavia in Lombardy, opposed the troops of Charles V
to those of Francis I, each at the head of their armies.
The highlight of the battle was the capture of Francis I.
His horse, knocked down by several arquebuses, immobilized the king
under his body, forcing him to surrender his sword to the imperial
commander Charles de Lannoy.
…
In the foreground:
The sovereign appears protected by golden armor and a feathered helmet;
his horse, white and with blue caparison decorated with fleurs-de-lis, falls
to the ground, dragging his rider with him.
At his side are two riders, probably his pursuers ready to arrest him.
Joachim Patinir, follower of, école de
The Battle of Pavia
La bataille de Pavie
1530
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

31. juxtaposition of the view of a city with a trompe l'oeil map …

32. an allegory of the Tagus River,
the Virgin Mary placing a chasuble on Saint Ildefonsus
the Tavera Hospital floating on a cloud
the Bisagra Gate, the Toledo Cathedral,
the Alcázar de Toledo and Saint Martin's Bridge ...
El Greco (Doménikos Theotokópoulos)
View and Plan of Toledo
La Vue et plan de Tolède
1610-1614
Museo del Greco, Toledo

35. maps, charts, terrestrial globes, celestial spheres in allegories and paintings of the five senses of the 17th century ...

36. With the rising popularity of paintings of the five senses,
globes and maps became established as two of many objects
associated with vision.
…
Cupid shows Venus a painting on a Christian theme,
The Healing of the Blind Man
and
among the cornucopia of visual and optical artefacts
an orrery
and
a terrestrial globe
Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens,
Jan Brueghel l'Ancien et Peter Paul Rubens
The Sense of Sight
Allégorie de la vue
1617
Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

39. an woman looking at herself in the mirror,
objects, scientific instruments,
paintings, sculptures
and
a celestial sphere marked with symbols of the constellations
Frans Wouters
Allegory of Sight
Allégorie de la vue
1635-1659
Private collection

42. protecting mankind ...
Jesus in heaven, holds lightning, he will reduce the Earth to ashes,
the Virgin seems to beg him,
the Father, covered by a cloud, looks without much interest
To plead the cause of the Earth, the legion of saints and martyrs are present:
a cardinal in red,
St. Sebastian, naked as a Titian, looks at the sky with the most perfect serenity,
St. Francis, more frightened, implores heaven with a look imbued with the most
painful anguish
and
St. Dominic, look at Christ and shelter with his black mantle, the terrestrial globe
on which the serpent crawls (symbol of evil and sin, of the transgression
of the divine law of Adam and Eve)
Peter Paul Rubens
The Saints Preserving the World from the Wrath of Christ
Les saints préservant le monde de la colère du Christ ou Saint Dominique et Saint François
d'Assise préservant le monde de la colère du Christ
1620
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon

45. scholars discussing,
visitors contemplating paintings,
two characters looking at a chart representing the destruction of works of
art by Protestants in the late sixteenth century,
a table with albums, compasses, maritime maps
and
a terrestrial globe
(The painter's intention is to highlight the protection enjoyed by culture
and the arts in the Spanish Netherlands under its Spanish rulers, while
this protection is not available in the rebellious Protestant United
Provinces in the North.)
Adriaen van Stalbemt,
Hieronymus Francken the Younger, Hieronymus Francken le Jeune
The Sciences and Arts
Les Sciences et les Arts
1650
Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

48. A winged genius holds a cameo with the effigy of Charles V
and points to a globe in allusion to the vast imperial possessions.
In front of him objects are arranged like still lifes in baroque
abundance, alluding to the rapid passing of time,
the nothingness of power and the fleeting nature of life's pleasures.
Antonio de Pereda
Allegory of Vanity
Allégorie de la Vanité
1632 – 1636
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

51. The Dutch Golden Age.
The maps, charts and globes issued during this period, are distinguished by their accuracy according to the knowledge of the time,
and by a combination of science and art.
Maps were symbols of humanistic education and knowledge, or simply a way break the monotony of bare plaster walls.

52. a girl holding a glass of wine,
two gentlemen,
a servant-girl
a table,
a broad double window
a chimney-piece
and
a map
(It’s easy to mistake this Pieter de Hooch for a Vermeer)
Pieter de Hooch
A Woman Drinking with Two Men
Une femme buvant avec deux hommes
1658
National Gallery, London

55. But it was Vermeer who established himself as the master of the map …

56. The intimate encounter between a dashing soldier and a
fashionable young woman ...
On the wall hangs a 1621 map of Holland and West Friesland.
It is based on an actual map designed
by Balthasar Florisz. van Berckenrode in 1620.
Perhaps alluding to the soldier’s duty to protect his homeland
or his territorial aspirations.
The map’s placement above the woman may
also liken her to an object of conquest
Johannes Vermeer
Officer and Laughing Girl
Soldat et jeune fille riant, aussi l'Officier et la jeune fille riant
1657
The Frick Collection, New York

59. A young woman,
her lute
songbooks,
a viola da gamba
and
a large map of Europe
…
The map of Europe reflects the contemporary decoration
of Dutch homes, a sign of pride in the nation’s preeminence
in navigation and cartography.
Johannes Vermeer
Woman with a Lute, also known as Woman with a Lute Near a Window
La Femme au luth
1662-1663
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

61. The largest and most ornate of all the maps depicted by Vermeer ...
The map adorns a room that serves as an artist’s studio.
Its margins are decorated with panoramic views of the major towns
The map shows the Seventeen Provinces – an alternative name
for the Habsburg Netherlands, ruled by the Spanish king.
The Seventeen Provinces ceased to exist in 1581, when seven northern
provinces declared independence.
Vermeer's cartographic objects often add meaning:
the Seventeen Provinces were no longer a united territory,
making the map a fitting background for the young woman
who stands in front of it and represents Clio, the Muse of History.
Johannes Vermeer
The Art of Painting
L'Art de la peinture
1666
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

64. An astronomer is at work in his twilit study.
He rises slightly from his chair ...
... and gently spins the celestial globe on his desk with his fingertips.
The light illuminates the globe on the desk in front of the window.
This colorful sphere representing the various constellations
The burgeoning interest in the earth and universe in this period
meant that many merchants and scholars had expensive globes
and celestial globes at home.
Globes and celestial globes were always produced in pairs.
The counterpart to this celestial globe can be found in the
background of Vermeer’s The Geographer.
Johannes Vermeer
L'Astronome
The Astronomer
1668
Musée du Louvre, Paris

66. The geographer pauses in his work to gaze out the window.
He has the instruments he needs to measure the world at hand
a pair of dividers,
maps
and
a globe just showing, hardly visible, the Indian Ocean.
…
The globe, is actually a depiction of a real globe of that time,
made around 1600 by the Flemish engraver and cartographer
Jodocus Hondius the Elder in Amsterdam. He sold the terrestrial
globe together with its celestial pendant, depicted by Vermeer
in The Astronomer.
The sea chart on the back wall is a type of map used to navigate
the coasts of Europe.
Johannes Vermeer
The Geographer
Le Géographe
1669
Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Frankfurt

69. ... no artist since has shown the same fascination for putting maps into their paintings

70. three young women and a boy sitting with their tutor
The gentleman examines with his magnifying glass a map of part
of the east coast of Spain and the islands of Mallorca and Menorca,
perhaps explaining to the girl seated beside him their geographical
and political significance to Britain.
the two girls peer through a telescope and tilt a small mirror,
the boy refrains from looking at anything.
Philippe Mercier
The Sense of Sight
Le sens de la vue
1744-1747
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

73. In the nineteenth century, maps were included in paintings as part of
their narrative.
…
The moments after his murder.
Marat is motionless in his bathtub,
Corday stands in front of a map of France which is placed on the wall.
Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry
L'Assassinat de Marat, Charlotte Corday
The Assassination of Marat, Charlotte Corday
1860
Musée d’arts, Nantes

76. a map
and
two men
… planning a holiday
Adolph von Menzel
Travel Plans
Plans de voyage
1875
Museum Folkwang, Essen

79. a tavern on the bank of the River Thames in London ...
an old soldier with a map and with his endless
and incomprehensible stories about his military career
bores
two fashionably dressed young women
An "Interesting" Story with tongue in cheek.
James Tissot
Une histoire intéressante
An Interesting Story
1872
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

83. and …
an contemporary equivalent of Botticelli’s Map of Hell from over five centuries before …

84. Philip Firsov
Purgatorio
2015
Private collection

86. o.esqsegues@gmail.com
Maps and charts in paintings
Cartes géographiques dans la peinture
images and text credit www.
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