Hemelkaart met rechtopstaande en schuine aardbol

This celestial map was made by an anonymous artist, and is held at the Rijksmuseum. The image presents a view of the heavens as understood through a mixture of classical learning and emerging scientific knowledge. The visual language employed, with its ornate borders and allegorical figures, evokes a sense of cosmic order and the divine. Made in the Netherlands, a centre of cartography and trade, this print reflects the period's ambition to map and understand the world. The map also reveals the institutional context in which such images were produced. The detailed rendering and Latin inscriptions suggest an audience of educated elites, and the use of standardized symbols speaks to a community of scholars sharing and refining knowledge. The Dutch Republic was a place where commercial and intellectual institutions were closely linked. As historians, we can explore the map through archives and printed sources that shed light on its creation. We can interpret this artwork as a reflection of social values and institutional structures of its time.