Mappa Mundi

Back to people overview

A medieval map of the world. A mappa mundi is usually a manuscript map from the pre-printing era. It is typically schematic and symbolic in nature rather than geographically accurate. A T-O map is a type of mappa mundi. Examples in The Sunderland Collection include the world maps by Rolewinck and Macrobius.

Black and white woodcut of the world in a modified mappa mundi form, from the Mer des Hystoires (Sea of Stories). The map is round. The top half shows Asia, with Paradise at the very top in the East. The lower left quadrant shows Europe, and the right lower quadrant shows Africa. Place names are show in small labels throughout the map.