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Connections: Maps

Medieval art curator Melanie Holcomb talks about how maps help her make sense of the world.
Melanie Holcomb
2 min. watch

"I wonder why it is that we love maps so much. I think in part it has to do with the fact that it allows us to be God for a minute."

Metropolitan Museum of Art medieval art curator Melanie Holcomb talks about how maps help her make sense of the world.

Contributors

Melanie Holcomb
Curator, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters

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Art Mentioned

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Taima Mandala, Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk, Japan
Taima Mandala
Japan
14th century
The Qianlong Emperor's Southern Inspection Tour, Scroll Six: Entering Suzhou along the Grand Canal, Xu Yang and assistants Chinese, Handscroll; ink and color on silk, China
The Qianlong Emperor's Southern Inspection Tour, Scroll Six: Entering Suzhou along the Grand Canal
Xu Yang
dated 1770
Celestial globe with clockwork, Gerhard Emmoser German, Case: partially gilded silver, gilded brass; movement: brass, steel, Austrian, Vienna
Celestial globe with clockwork
Gerhard Emmoser
1579
[Subway Passengers, New York City], Walker Evans American, Gelatin silver print
[Subway Passengers, New York City]
Walker Evans
1938
[Four 35mm Film Frames: View Down Subway Car: Accordionist Performing in Aisle, Newspaper Vendor in Aisle, New York City], Walker Evans American, Film negative
[Four 35mm Film Frames: View Down Subway Car: Accordionist Performing in Aisle, Newspaper Vendor in Aisle, New York City]
Walker Evans
February 15–23, 1938
Rebbilib (navigational chart), Marshall Islands artist, Coconut palm midrib, fiber, Marshallese people
Rebbilib (navigational chart)
Marshall Islands artist
19th–early 20th century
Astronomicum Caesareum, Michael Ostendorfer German, Hand-colored woodcuts
Astronomicum Caesareum
Multiple artists/makers
May 1540
Myologie Complette en Couleur et Grandeur Naturelle, Joseph Guichard Duverney French, Illustrations: color mezzotints
Myologie Complette en Couleur et Grandeur Naturelle
Multiple artists/makers
1746
View of London from Greenwich, Joseph Mallord William Turner British, Watercolor and ink and traces of graphite
View of London from Greenwich
Joseph Mallord William Turner
1825
The Celestial Map- Northern Hemisphere, Albrecht Dürer German, Woodcut
The Celestial Map- Northern Hemisphere
Albrecht Dürer
1515
Young Woman with a Lute, Johannes Vermeer Dutch, Oil on canvas
Young Woman with a Lute
Johannes Vermeer
ca. 1662–63
Astrolabe of ‘Umar ibn Yusuf ibn ‘Umar ibn ‘Ali ibn Rasul al-Muzaffari, ‘Umar ibn Yusuf ibn ‘Umar ibn ‘Ali ibn Rasul al-Muzaffari Yemini, Brass; cast and hammered, pierced, chased, inlaid with silver
Astrolabe of ‘Umar ibn Yusuf ibn ‘Umar ibn ‘Ali ibn Rasul al-Muzaffari
‘Umar ibn Yusuf ibn ‘Umar ibn ‘Ali ibn Rasul al-Muzaffari
dated 690 AH/1291 CE
The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise, Giovanni di Paolo (Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia) Italian, Tempera and gold on wood
The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise
Giovanni di Paolo (Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia)
1445
Leaf from a Beatus Manuscript: the Lamb at the Foot of the Cross, Flanked by Two Angels; The Calling of Saint John with the Enthroned Christ flanked by Angels and a Man Holding a Book, Tempera, gold, and ink on parchment, Spanish
Leaf from a Beatus Manuscript: the Lamb at the Foot of the Cross, Flanked by Two Angels; The Calling of Saint John with the Enthroned Christ flanked by Angels and a Man Holding a Book
Spanish
ca. 1180
Memory Board (Lukasa), Wood, Luba
Memory Board (Lukasa)
Luba
19th–20th century