Maps were used to impress viewers and establish the owner's reputation as sophisticated, educated, and worldly. Because of this, towards the end of the renaissance, maps were displayed with equal importance of painting, sculptures, and other pieces of art (1). In the sixteenth century, maps were becoming increasingly available to consumers through the introduction of print making, with about 10% of Venetian homes having some sort of map by the late 1500s.
There were three main functions of maps in the Renaissance:
· General descriptions of the world
· Navigation (both land and sea)
· Land surveys/property management
In medieval times, written directions of how to get somewhere were more common than the use of maps. Coming with the renaissance, cartography was seen as a metaphor for power (2). Political leaders could lay claim on territories through the use of maps and this was greatly aided by the religious and colonial expansion of Europe. The most commonly mapped place was the Holy Land and other religious places in the renaissance.
In the late 1400s to the late 1500s Rome, Florence, and Venice dominated map making and trade. It started in Florence in the mid to late 1400s. Map trade was quickly shifted to Rome and Venice and then over taken by atlas makers in the late 16th century (3). Map publishing in Venice was completed with humanities and book publishing in mind, rather than just informational use.
There were two main methods of print making of maps in the Renaissance:
The first method was relief. Medium grained hard wood was used as the print blocks where the maps were cut into. the wood was engraved so the areas that were printed appeared as a relief in the wood causing indented lines to appear on the paper. The indented lines could often be felt on the back of the map. There were advantages to using relief to make maps. To make the maps, a print makers didn’t need a press, because the maps could be developed as rubbings. The wood block was durable and could be used multiple times before any ware appeared. Existing printing presses could be used to create the prints rather than having to create a new one. On the other hand, it was difficult to get fine details with the relief technique. Inconsistent lines and other detail could be more easily observed than inconsistencies in intaglio. To combat this issue, in the late fifteenth century a style of relief came about that used fine chisels to relieve the wood, rather then the typically used knife
The second method was intaglio where lines were engraved into workable metals such as copper or brass. The engraver would spread a thin sheet of wax over the metal plate and then use ink to draw the details of the map. Then, the engraver would trace the main lines with metal tools onto the plate beneath (5). The engraver could also use metal tools to lightly prick holes along the drawn lines and then tracing it with colored chalk and then engrave the map. Lines that were going in the same direction were carved at the same time, and then the plate was turned to carve lines going in another direction. Once ink was applied over the metal, the plate made a mark of ink around the border of the map which became known as the "plate-mark". Often times the plate-mark was removed from the edge of the map before it was distributed (7). Copper and other metals were expensive at the time, so the plate was often reused or melted down for other purposes (7).
Both relief and intaglio were used about equally by the end of the fifteenth century. Any type of paper that was available at the time could be used to print the map on, but thicker paper was more durable. After the maps were run through the press, the paper was often hung out to dry. Once the map was completely dry, it was usually placed in another press of flatten the paper.
Lettering in map making is important to denote information that is expressed by the map. When using wood, creating fine and small lettering was difficult. Lettering often was often square and blocky, which was a far cry from the stylized, rounded writing style that made itself popular in Italy at the time (7). To combat this, mapmakers used topography for small lettering. In intaglio lettering was a less difficult than that of wood engraving and was stylized in looping cursive that came to be known as cancellaresca (7). There were custom-made reverse punches that were also used in metal engraving along side freehand lettering. Identical and mass-produced maps were not appealing to the public, however some map makers adopted identical map keys such as tents, animals, ships, and towns (5).
The first use of color in map making cannot be narrowed down to one reason. There are arguments that color was first use to indicate information on the map with aesthetics coming second in thought. There are also arguments that color was first used on maps for aesthetics and then evolved into conveying information on the map (7). Despite these arguments, Italian maps of the Renaissance were often uncolored. It is theorized that these maps were not colored to maintain the delicate details that were made in the map. In the seventeenth century a practice of washing or limning was done to maps. Limning was originally the adding of silver and gold to the map to illuminate of lettering or heraldic arms. Washing originally meant applying watercolor washes to completed maps. Towards the end of the century, washing meant painting the map with watercolor.
Maps were used to impress viewers and establish the owner's reputation as sophisticated, educated, and worldly. Because of this, towards the end of the renaissance, maps were displayed with equal importance of painting, sculptures, and other pieces of art (1). In the sixteenth century, maps were becoming increasingly available to consumers through the introduction of print making, with about 10% of Venetian homes having some sort of map by the late 1500s.
There were three main functions of maps in the Renaissance:
· General descriptions of the world
· Navigation (both land and sea)
· Land surveys/property management
In medieval times, written directions of how to get somewhere were more common than the use of maps. Coming with the renaissance, cartography was seen as a metaphor for power (2). Political leaders could lay claim on territories through the use of maps and this was greatly aided by the religious and colonial expansion of Europe. The most commonly mapped place was the Holy Land and other religious places in the renaissance.
In the late 1400s to the late 1500s Rome, Florence, and Venice dominated map making and trade. It started in Florence in the mid to late 1400s. Map trade was quickly shifted to Rome and Venice and then over taken by atlas makers in the late 16th century (3). Map publishing in Venice was completed with humanities and book publishing in mind, rather than just informational use.
There were two main methods of print making of maps in the Renaissance:
The first method was relief. Medium grained hard wood was used as the print blocks where the maps were cut into. the wood was engraved so the areas that were printed appeared as a relief in the wood causing indented lines to appear on the paper. The indented lines could often be felt on the back of the map. There were advantages to using relief to make maps. To make the maps, a print makers didn’t need a press, because the maps could be developed as rubbings. The wood block was durable and could be used multiple times before any ware appeared. Existing printing presses could be used to create the prints rather than having to create a new one. On the other hand, it was difficult to get fine details with the relief technique. Inconsistent lines and other detail could be more easily observed than inconsistencies in intaglio. To combat this issue, in the late fifteenth century a style of relief came about that used fine chisels to relieve the wood, rather then the typically used knife
The second method was intaglio where lines were engraved into workable metals such as copper or brass. The engraver would spread a thin sheet of wax over the metal plate and then use ink to draw the details of the map. Then, the engraver would trace the main lines with metal tools onto the plate beneath (5). The engraver could also use metal tools to lightly prick holes along the drawn lines and then tracing it with colored chalk and then engrave the map. Lines that were going in the same direction were carved at the same time, and then the plate was turned to carve lines going in another direction. Once ink was applied over the metal, the plate made a mark of ink around the border of the map which became known as the "plate-mark". Often times the plate-mark was removed from the edge of the map before it was distributed (7). Copper and other metals were expensive at the time, so the plate was often reused or melted down for other purposes (7).
Both relief and intaglio were used about equally by the end of the fifteenth century. Any type of paper that was available at the time could be used to print the map on, but thicker paper was more durable. After the maps were run through the press, the paper was often hung out to dry. Once the map was completely dry, it was usually placed in another press of flatten the paper.
Lettering in map making is important to denote information that is expressed by the map. When using wood, creating fine and small lettering was difficult. Lettering often was often square and blocky, which was a far cry from the stylized, rounded writing style that made itself popular in Italy at the time (7). To combat this, mapmakers used topography for small lettering. In intaglio lettering was a less difficult than that of wood engraving and was stylized in looping cursive that came to be known as cancellaresca (7). There were custom-made reverse punches that were also used in metal engraving along side freehand lettering. Identical and mass-produced maps were not appealing to the public, however some map makers adopted identical map keys such as tents, animals, ships, and towns (5).
The first use of color in map making cannot be narrowed down to one reason. There are arguments that color was first use to indicate information on the map with aesthetics coming second in thought. There are also arguments that color was first used on maps for aesthetics and then evolved into conveying information on the map (7). Despite these arguments, Italian maps of the Renaissance were often uncolored. It is theorized that these maps were not colored to maintain the delicate details that were made in the map. In the seventeenth century a practice of washing or limning was done to maps. Limning was originally the adding of silver and gold to the map to illuminate of lettering or heraldic arms. Washing originally meant applying watercolor washes to completed maps. Towards the end of the century, washing meant painting the map with watercolor.