| Abstrakt: |
This article interprets the enigmatic phrases above two Ptolemaic world maps printed in 1482, one above the world map in the Venice edition of Pomponius Mela printed by Erhard Ratdolt, and the other in the world map in Francesco Berlinghieri's verse adaptation of Ptolemy's Geography. Ratdolt's map is updated with recent geographical discoveries, and the phrase above it emphasizes this aspect of the map, which might otherwise be ignored in a map illustrating a classical author. In fact, there is considerable tension between the map and its context. The phrase above Berlinghieri's map encourages an astrological contemplation of the world, and I suggest that Berlinghieri coined it for a manuscript of Ptolemy's Geography (BnF, Latin 8834) that he made for Matthias Corvinus (1443-90), king of Hungary and Croatia, who was an astrology enthusiast, and then retained it in the world map in the printed version of his verse adaptation of Ptolemy's work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
