Arkivism
Map of the earth and cosmos in eight rings
Public domain

Map of the earth and cosmos in eight rings

anonymous · 1695 - 1712 · engraving; paper

From the collection of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.

About this work

Map of the earth and the cosmos in eight rings. In the center, hell, surrounded by the underworld. Then the earth's surface. The next two rings show the oceans, in the form of a map of the area around the equator. Then, in two rings, the sky is shown, with various natural and supernatural weather phenomena. In the penultimate ring, constellations are visible, along with notes on comets. The outermost ring is a sea of fire, in which demons, salamanders, and phoenixes are depicted. The rings represent, from inside to outside, in pairs, the elements earth, water, air, and fire. This arrangement of the cosmos is based on the cosmological model of Aristotle and Ptolemy. In the four corners of the map are images with notes on solar and lunar eclipses. Top left, a map of the northern hemisphere; top right, of the southern hemisphere.

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam’s own description
Credit lineKaart van de aarde en kosmos in acht ringen. 1695 - 1712. anonymous. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Public domain.

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