DOCSLIB.ORG

Historical Maps in GIS

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Historical Maps in GIS chapter one Historical Maps in GIS David Rumsey and Meredith Williams ost historical GIS would be and scientifi c understanding at the time of impossible without historical its creation. By incorporating information M maps, as the chapters in this book from historical maps, scholars doing his- testify. Maps record the geographical infor- torical GIS are stimulating new interest in mation that is fundamental to reconstruct- these rich sources that have much to offer ing past places, whether town, region, or historical scholarship and teaching. At the nation. Historical maps often hold informa- same time, the maps themselves challenge tion retained by no other written source, GIS users to understand the geographic such as place-names, boundaries, and physi- principles of cartography, particularly scale cal features that have been modifi ed or and projection. We have addressed these erased by modern development. Historical challenges in order to examine the value of maps capture the attitudes of those who including nineteenth- and early twentieth- made them and represent worldviews of century paper maps in GIS.1 their time. A map’s degree of accuracy tells One can use digital renditions of histori- us much about the state of technology cal maps to study historical landscapes, the ch01 1 1/3/03, 11:21:23 AM 2 past time, past place: gis for history Figure 1. Wheeler Survey map of maps themselves, and how places changed were only as reliable as the reader’s visual Yosemite Valley, 1883 over time. GIS is breathing new life into acuity and interpretive skill. The same The government-funded Wheeler historical maps by freeing them from the limits applied to cartography, the making Survey produced one of the fi rst accu- static confi nes of their original print form. of maps. Cartographers traditionally made rate maps of Yosemite Valley. The It is also enabling a new level of understand- maps by gathering information from pub- cartographers who drew the map ing. Traditionally, people read and analyzed lished maps or fi eld surveys. The maps used hachuring (a form of shading) maps using a critical eye and a priori they produced were often marvelous acts to suggest the depth of the canyon knowledge. Comparison of two or more of interpretation. Consider the Wheeler and the river valleys leading to it. maps was possible, but the conclusions Survey, which mapped territory west of ch01 2 1/3/03, 11:21:26 AM Chapter 1 Historical Maps in GIS 3 the 100th meridian in a series of geo- in a continuous landscape were as much graphical expeditions beginning in 1871. art as science (fi gure 1). When their map George M. Wheeler and his associates car- is converted into digital form, it can be ried heavy plane tables, surveyor’s instru- manipulated and combined with other spa- ments, and large-format cameras by wagon tial data, such as digital elevation models and mule across mountains, canyons, and (fi gure 2). The three-dimensional landscape deserts. Their survey points were highly is more immediately recognizable. It gives accurate for the time, but the renderings us the feel of standing next to the cartog- of the topography that linked those points rapher as he gazed over Yosemite Valley. Figure 2. Wheeler’s Yosemite Valley in 3-d Draping the scanned image of the original Yosemite map over modern digital elevation model maps gives the old map a new look and immediacy. The simulated depth of the 3-d terrain model complements the beautiful hachuring of the 1883 map. In this map we used a vertical exaggeration factor of 1.5. ch01 3 1/3/03, 11:21:52 AM 4 past time, past place: gis for history More importantly for the aims of histori- graphic images. Connected by hot links to cal research, information that was diffi cult particular features in a GIS layer, histori- Figure 3. Chicago in 1868 to perceive in the historical map is now cal maps can be opened to compare pres- and 1997 accessible for our own investigation. We ent and past confi gurations of a given place Hot links connecting historical can now measure elevation, distance, and or landscape (fi gure 3). city plans to present-day maps give area, and rotate the image to place our- Integrating historical maps in GIS students easy access to visual com- selves at different viewpoints. to analyze the spatial information they parisons. Rufus Blanchard’s Guide Ordinarily, the fi rst step in preparing contain, or to layer them with other Map of Chicago (1868) shows the a paper map for use in GIS is scanning spatial data, requires that the maps be city’s characteristic grid and cross- it. For this purpose, it is best to capture georeferenced. That is, selected control cutting diagonal arteries, little map images at a very high resolution.2 points on a scan of the original map must changed in a recent ArcView® If one’s main purpose is to study maps as be aligned with their actual geographical StreetMapTM. The dimensions of historical documents, scanning may be all location, either by assigning geographical the city, however, have changed the manipulation required. Scanned maps coordinates to each point, or by linking enormously. can be easily incorporated into a GIS as each point to its equivalent on a modern, ch01 4 1/3/03, 11:22:12 AM Chapter 1 Historical Maps in GIS 5 accurate digital map. Once the control Jesuit missions.3 Placing the missions in Figure 4. Adding features to a points are in place, one applies mathemati- their physical context helps one see the historical map cal algorithms to warp the original map geographical logic of their location and This 1882 georeferenced map from image to fi t the chosen map projection as infer their relationship with regional pat- the Wheeler Survey shows the nearly as possible. Further adjustments can terns of commerce and transportation that Rio Grande Valley just north be done manually to try to fi nd the best developed between their founding in the of Santa Fe. The cartographer’s fi t for all parts of the original map. The late seventeenth century and their decline hachures mark the steep plateaus process is sometimes called rubber sheeting at the end of the nineteenth. and mesas of the rugged region because it stretches and shrinks the map It is almost impossible to perfectly align where Franciscan priests established image like a thin sheet of rubber being an old map to modern coordinate systems missions among the native Indian pulled to fi t a particular form. Figure 4, because mapping methods before the age people as early as 1692. The red points for example, is a scanned detail of the of aerial photography often only very represent a layer of database informa- Wheeler Survey’s 1882 map of New Mexico imprecisely represented scale, angle, dis- tion about the missions. By click- that we georeferenced and then layered tance, and direction. For most GIS proj- ing on the points, users can bring with point data marking the location of ects, the value of the historical information up historical data about each site. ch01 5 1/3/03, 11:22:33 AM 6 past time, past place: gis for history on paper maps more than compensates for those for longitude converge. A common the residual error in their georeferenced conic projection for maps of the continen- versions. What one should keep in mind tal United States is Albers Equal-Area, so is that georeferencing does not necessarily we used a vector layer in this projection as improve a historical map or make it more a base for georeferencing the exploration accurate. In the course of changing the map. Control points were taken by assign- original map to make it amenable to digital ing geographical coordinates to reference integration, georeferencing changes lines points, such as the explorer’s longitude and shapes, the distance between objects, and latitude marks and major river junc- the map’s aesthetics, and its value as a cul- tions. By then overlaying modern high- tural artifact. One gains knowledge of the ways (red) and state boundaries (brown), original while processing it for inclusion in one can gauge Lewis and Clark’s errors in GIS, but one also loses something if the measurement and estimation. original map is not represented for compari- Small-scale historical maps like Lewis son with its actual size, proportions, and and Clark’s are prone to greater error qualities. Ideally, researchers should include than large-scale maps.4 A large area of the both the warped map and the scanned earth’s surface, like the continental United image of the original map in a GIS project States, is harder to depict on a fl at surface or publication. than a small area such as a town.5 Large- The impossibility of aligning historical scale maps are often more easily and accu- maps perfectly with modern maps can rately converted for use in GIS because itself yield historical information. During they tend to have less egregious geographi- their exploration of the Louisiana Pur- cal errors. Maps drawn at a large scale may chase, Meriwether Lewis and William also have more unique local data to con- Clark made notations of longitude and tribute, such as information on land own- latitude, which they later used in drawing ership, the location of buildings, paths, the monumental map of their expedition and streams, and so forth. (fi gure 5). To bring this map into GIS, we Large-scale city maps can be wonderful began by estimating the projection used sources for urban history, and adding one for Lewis and Clark’s rendering.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The History of Cartography, Volume 3
    THE HISTORY OF CARTOGRAPHY VOLUME THREE Volume Three Editorial Advisors Denis E. Cosgrove Richard Helgerson Catherine Delano-Smith Christian Jacob Felipe Fernández-Armesto Richard L. Kagan Paula Findlen Martin Kemp Patrick Gautier Dalché Chandra Mukerji Anthony Grafton Günter Schilder Stephen Greenblatt Sarah Tyacke Glyndwr Williams The History of Cartography J. B. Harley and David Woodward, Founding Editors 1 Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean 2.1 Cartography in the Traditional Islamic and South Asian Societies 2.2 Cartography in the Traditional East and Southeast Asian Societies 2.3 Cartography in the Traditional African, American, Arctic, Australian, and Pacific Societies 3 Cartography in the European Renaissance 4 Cartography in the European Enlightenment 5 Cartography in the Nineteenth Century 6 Cartography in the Twentieth Century THE HISTORY OF CARTOGRAPHY VOLUME THREE Cartography in the European Renaissance PART 1 Edited by DAVID WOODWARD THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS • CHICAGO & LONDON David Woodward was the Arthur H. Robinson Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2007 by the University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2007 Printed in the United States of America 1615141312111009080712345 Set ISBN-10: 0-226-90732-5 (cloth) ISBN-13: 978-0-226-90732-1 (cloth) Part 1 ISBN-10: 0-226-90733-3 (cloth) ISBN-13: 978-0-226-90733-8 (cloth) Part 2 ISBN-10: 0-226-90734-1 (cloth) ISBN-13: 978-0-226-90734-5 (cloth) Editorial work on The History of Cartography is supported in part by grants from the Division of Preservation and Access of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Geography and Regional Science Program and Science and Society Program of the National Science Foundation, independent federal agencies.
    [Show full text]
  • Earliest Known Maps #100 TITLE
    Earliest Known Maps #100 TITLE: The Earliest Known Map DATE: 6,200 B.C. AUTHOR: unknown DESCRIPTION: The human activity of graphically translating one’s perception of his world is now generally recognized as a universally acquired skill and one that pre-dates virtually all other forms of written communication. Set in this pre-literate context and subjected to the ravages of time, the identification of any artifact as “the oldest map”, in any definitive sense, becomes an elusive task. Nevertheless, searching for the earliest forms of cartography is a continuing effort of considerable interest and fascination. These discoveries provide not only chronological benchmarks and information about geographical features and perceptions thereof, but they also verify the ubiquitous nature of mapping, help to elucidate cultural differences and influences, provide valuable data for tracing conceptual evolution in graphic presentations, and enable examination of relationships to more “contemporary primitive” mapping. As such, there are a number of well- known early examples that appear in most standard accounts of the history of cartography. The most familiar artifacts put forth as “the oldest extant cartographic efforts” are the Babylonian maps engraved on clay tablets. These maps vary in scale, ranging from small-scale world conceptions to regional, local and large-scale depictions, down to building and grounds plans. In detailed accounts of these cartographic artifacts there are conflicting estimates concerning their antiquity, content and significance. Dates quoted by “authorities” may vary by as much as 1,500 years and the interpretation of specific symbols, colors, geographic locations and names on these artifacts often differ in interpretation from scholar to scholar.
    [Show full text]
  • TITLE: Mesopotamian City Plan for Nippur DATE: 1,500 B.C
    City Plan for Nippur #101 TITLE: Mesopotamian City Plan for Nippur DATE: 1,500 B.C. AUTHOR: unknown DESCRIPTION: This Babylonian clay tablet, drawn around 1,500 B.C. and measuring 18 x 21 cm, is incised with a plan of Nippur, the religious center of the Sumerians in Babylonia during this period. The tablet marks the principal temple of Enlil in its enclosure on the right edge, along with storehouses, a park and another enclosure, the river Euphrates, a canal to one side of the city, and another canal running through the center. A wall surrounds the city, pierced by seven gates which, like all the other features, have their names written beside them. As on some of the house plans, measurements are given for several of the structures, apparently in units of twelve cubits [about six meters]. Scrutiny of the map beside modern surveys of Nippur has led to the claim that it was drawn to scale. How much of the terrain around Nippur has been included cannot be known because of damage to the tablet, nor is there any statement of the plan’s purpose, although repair of the city’s defenses is suggested. As such, this tablet represents possibly the earliest known town plan drawn to scale. Nippur city map drawn to scale Examples of city maps, some quite fragmentary, are preserved for Gasur (later called Nuzi), Nippur, Babylon, Sippar, and Uruk. The ancient Mesopotamian city stands as the quintessential vehicle of self-identification in that fundamentally urban civilization. Our knowledge of a Meso- 1 City Plan for Nippur #101 potamian conception of “citizenship” is unfortunately quite poor, but a member of the community was identified as ”one of the city,” and so the equivalent expression of the term “citizen,” or something perhaps similar to it, is tied to the concept and word for the city.
    [Show full text]
  • Methodology for Producing a Hand-Drawn Thematic City Map
    Master Thesis Methodology for Producing a Hand-Drawn Thematic City Map submitted by: Alika C. Jensen born on: 27.08.1992 in Dayton, Ohio, USA submitted for the academic degree of Master of Science (M.Sc.) Date of Submission 16.10.2017 Supervisors Prof. Dipl.-Phys. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dirk Burghardt Technische Universität Dresden Univ.Prof. Mag.rer.nat. Dr.rer.nat. Georg Gartner Technische Universität Wien Statement of Authorship Herewith I declare that I am the sole author of the thesis named „Methodology for Producing a Hand-Drawn Thematic City Map“ which has been submitted to the study commission of geosciences today. I have fully referenced the ideas and work of others, whether published or unpublished. Literal or analogous citations are clearly marked as such. Dresden, 16.10.2017 Signature Alika C. Jensen 2 Contents Title............................................................................................................................................1 Statement of Authorship...........................................................................................................2 Contents....................................................................................................................................3 Figures.......................................................................................................................................5 Terminology..............................................................................................................................7 1 Introduction...........................................................................................................................8
    [Show full text]
  • 3D Printing and 3D Scanning of Our Ancient History: Preservation and Protection of Our Cultural Heritage and Identity
    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT Volume 8, Issue 5, 2017 pp.441-456 Journal homepage: www.IJEE.IEEFoundation.org TECHNICAL PAPER 3D printing and 3D scanning of our ancient history: Preservation and protection of our cultural heritage and identity Maher A.R. Sadiq Al-Baghdadi Center of Preserving of the Cities Heritage and Identity, International Energy and Environment Foundation, Najaf, P.O.Box 39, Iraq. Received 12 June 2017; Received in revised form 12 Aug. 2017; Accepted 17 Aug. 2017; Available online 1 Sep. 2017 Abstract 3D printing and 3D scanning are increasingly used in archeology and in cultural heritage preservation. These 3D technologies provide museum curators, researchers and archeologists with new tools to capture in 3D ancient objects, artifacts or art pieces. They can then study, replicate, restore or simply archive them with much more details than traditional 2D pictures. It is even possible to 3D scan entire archeological sites to get a full 3D mapping. Iraq is too rich in ancient cultural heritage but unfortunately much of the hundreds of thousands of artifacts remain in archives of the museums worldwide. Having the exact copies of these ancient artifacts will allow the audience here to learn more about our heritage. The Center of Preserving of the Cities Heritage and Identity (CPCHI) at International Energy and Environment Foundation (IEEF) started a roadmap in preserving our ancient history with 3D scanning, 3D virtual reality, and 3D printing technologies. As part of the project create high-quality 3D replicas of our cultural heritage, which are located in our museums and sites, and most of them are spread around the world, and then exhibit it in several venues throughout our country Iraq.
    [Show full text]
  • The History of Cartography, Volume 1
    THE HISTORY OF CARTOGRAPHY VOLUME ONE EDITORIAL ADVISORS Luis de Albuquerque Joseph Needham J. H. Andrews David B. Quinn J6zef Babicz Maria Luisa Righini Bonellit Marcel Destombest Walter W. Ristow o. A. W. Dilke Arthur H. Robinson L. A. Goldenberg Avelino Teixeira da Motat George Kish Helen M. Wallis Cornelis Koeman Lothar Z6gner tDeceased THE HISTORY OF CARTOGRAPHY 1 Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean 2 Cartography in the Traditional Asian Societies 3 Cartography in the Age of Renaissance and Discovery 4 Cartography in the Age of Science, Enlightenment, and Expansion 5 Cartography in the Nineteenth Century 6 Cartography in the Twentieth Century THE HISTORY OF CARTOGRAPHY VOLUME ONE Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean Edited by J. B. HARLEY and DAVID WOODWARD THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS • CHICAGO & LONDON J. B. Harley is professor of geography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, formerly Montefiore Reader in Geography at the University of Exeter. David Woodward is professor of geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 1987 by The University ofChicago Allrights reserved. Published 1987 Printed in the United States ofAmerica 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 8 7 654 This work is supported in part by grants from the Division of Research Programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency Additional funds were contributed by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The National Geographic Society The Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography, The Newberry Library The Johnson Foundation The Luther I.
    [Show full text]
  • 6 · Cartography in the Ancient Near East
    6 · Cartography in the Ancient Near East A. R. MILLARD Under the term "ancient Near East" fall the modern amples of these lists have been unearthed in Babylonia, states of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel. Tur­ at Abu Salabikh near Nippur, and at the northern Syrian key, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Yemen, and Iran may settlement of Ebla, the scene of important discoveries also be included. The eras embraced begin with the first by Italian archaeologists, lying fifty-five kilometers south urban settlements (ca. 5000 B.C.) and continue until the of Aleppo. The scribes who wrote these tablets were defeat of Darius III by Alexander the Great, who offi­ working between 2500 and 2200 B.C., but their lists cially introduced Hellenism to the area (330 B.C.). There were drawn from earlier sources that reached back as are few examples of maps as they have been defined in far as the beginning of the third millennium. Besides the the literature of the history of cartography, but those names of places in Babylonia, names of Syrian towns that remain are important in helping to build a picture appear in the lists from Ebla, including Ugarit (Ra's of the geographical knowledge available, and of related Shamrah) on the Mediterranean coast.1 This is one in­ achievements. dication of the level Babylonian geographical knowledge had reached at an early date. In support of that may be BABYLONIAN GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE cited historical sources, contemporary and traditional, for military campaigns by King Sargon of Akkad and Babylonia was open to travelers from all directions.
    [Show full text]
  • Vermeer's Maps
    e-Perimetron, Vol.1, No. 2, Spring 2006 [138-154] www.e-perimetron.org | ISSN 1790-3769 Evangelos Livieratos ∗, Alexandra Koussoulakou** 1 Vermeer’s maps: a new digital look in an old master’s mirror Keywords: Cartography and Art; Johannes Vermeer; image processing; map comparison; cartographic deformations; carto- graphic animation; cartographic heritage. Summary The links of Cartography to Art and culture are as old as the field itself. The art of painting has al- ways been present within maps, which, in turn have always been regarded as a combination of scientific and artistic skills. One of the most prominent examples of the harmonic duality of maps as scientific tools and objects of culture is witnessed in the Netherlands during the 17th century, when the Dutch were world leaders in the field of cartographic production. This period is also known as the golden century of the country: state power and world dominion were combined with progress in science and in arts. Dutch mapmakers of the time were usually combining more skills: they were surveyors, cartographers, painters of landscapes and even more. On the other hand, many seventeenth-century Dutch painters such as Hals, Vermeer, Ter Borch, De Hooch, Steen, Ochtervelt, Maes and others, introduced depictions of real maps into their works and decorated their interiors with maps for symbolic or allegorical reasons. A typical example is Johannes Vermeer; in his painting ‘Officer and laughing girl’ (~1660) an officer and a young girl are placed in an interior, sitting at a table in front of a window. On the wall behind the girl a large map is hanging, occupying a large part of the painting and being equally important as the rest of the scene.
    [Show full text]
  • Syllabus Rev 100708Ja&Dd&Wg
    Mapping and Art in the Americas NEH Summer Institute The Newberry Library, July 12 – August 13, 2010 James Akerman and Diane Dillon, Co-directors Syllabus (revised, July 2010) Except where noted, all sessions are in the Towner Fellows’ Lounge, on the east end of the second floor. U nless otherwise indicated , all afternoons Tuesday through Friday are free for research and reading. The reading rooms are open Tuesday – Friday, 9 AM – 5 PM, Saturday, 9 AM – 1 PM. Please note that books cannot be paged 12 – 1 PM. The building is closed on Sundays. Part 1: Maps in Art, Art in Maps Monday, July 12, 2010 8:30 – 9:00 AM Refreshments 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM Morning Session 1 (including tour of Library): The Problem of Art and Cartography: Perspectives from Cartographic and Art History James Akerman and Diane Dillon Readings: Cosgrove 2005; Karrow 2007; Robinson 1966, pp. 3-24; Woodward 1987, pp. 1-9 1:30 – 4:30 PM Afternoon session (Special Collections Reading Room): Workshop and introduction to collections 5:45 PM Evening: Welcome dinner at Café Iberico, 739 N. LaSalle Dr. Tuesday, July 13 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM Morning Session 2: Mapping in Art, part I Nina Katchadourian (independent artist, New York), Laurie Palmer (Associate Professor of Sculpture, Art Institute of Chicago), Dianna Frid (Assistant Professor, Studio Arts, University of Illinois-Chicago), Gregory Knight (independent curator, Chicago and Berlin) Readings: Harmon and Clemans 2009 (all) 1:30 – 2:30 PM Library services orientation JoEllen Dickie and Lisa Schoblasky 2:30 – 6:30 PM Individual conferences (Smith Center) Wednesday, July 14 9:00 – 10:00 AM Group breakfast (Towner Fellows Lounge) 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM Morning Session 3: Crossing Boundaries: Between Maps and Art Edward S.
    [Show full text]
  • Race–Russkoye
    2. Race as geographical populations. Individuals are part of a race that occupies or originated in spe- cifi c territories. An individual is in a race. 3. Modern genetics, with a focus on genetic distinc- R tiveness (however tiny) of groups of people. Maps that derive from race-based data sources such as Race, Maps and the Social Construction of. The the census have had to confront changing offi cial defi ni- cartographic construction of race refers to the concept tions, inclusions, and exclusions. Since the U.S. Census that maps and mapping actively create and reproduce was fi rst collected in 1790 the number and defi nition of race and racial knowledges. Although maps create many races has changed frequently (table 44). different knowledges, those that sustain or create race Racial identity had become more fractured in the are particularly important as they undergird projects as United States over time with just four categories in the diverse as colonialism, redlining, territorialization, and fi rst census and fi fteen by the end of the twentieth cen- indigeneity. tury. Conversely some categories have been dropped A racialized territory is a space that a particular race (Aleut, Eskimo, Hindu, Mulatto) in tune with chang- is thought to occupy. The idea that humans can be as- ing understandings of race and ethnicity. These changes signed to a small number of distinct populations was were often politically motivated. The superintendent of popularized by Carl von Linné (Linnæus), whose mid- the 1870 and 1880 U.S. Census, economist and statisti- eighteenth century Systema Naturæ (10th ed.) was cian Francis Amasa Walker, explicitly remodeled its data highly infl uential.
    [Show full text]
  • Visual Palimpsests: City Atmosphere in Cartography, City Planning and Painting
    Studies in Visual Arts and Communication: an international journal Vol 4, No 1 (2017) on-line ISSN 2393 - 1221 Visual palimpsests: city atmosphere in cartography, city planning and painting Efrossyni Tsakiri* Abstract Atmosphere is a mysterious property of urban space that can be sensed only by personal experience. People describe it as a particularly intense and imposing emotion. The concept was born in the ‘50s, together with the distinction between space and place. Place, a meaningful space, is discussed in the context of human psyche, perception, feeling, attachment, in psychology and philosophy. By extension, atmosphere in psychogeography is an important factor of urban place that reflects people’s feelings about it. But although atmosphere for Situationists is an experiential property that can be attributed only to the lived and not to the represented space, geographer E. Relph argues that an individual can also connect to places and develop feelings about them through fantasy and artistic representations in a state that he defines as ‘vicarious insideness’. In Urban Visual Culture, all images that represent the city and its multifarious content are mediums for the experience, perception, understanding of the urban, the development of feelings and attachment to it, in other words, they can create an atmosphere. This study will follow with the examination of atmosphere in European city representations. In the paper, I will use semiotics to illustrate the mechanism of an individual experiences, the atmosphere of a European city representation with artworks from city planning, cartography, and painting. I will analyze: a) View of Florence with the Chain by Francesco Rosselli (1480), b) Römische Ruinenlandschaft by Paul Bril (1600), c) City of Truth by Bartolomeo Del Bene (1609), d) Via Appia by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1756), e) Evening on Karl Johan Street by Edvard Munch (1892), f) New York City by Piet Mondrian (1942) and g) London functional analysis map by Patrick Abercrombie (1944).
    [Show full text]
  • Cartographic Activities in the Republic of Genoa, Corsica, and Sardinia in the Renaissance Massimo Quaini
    34 • Cartographic Activities in the Republic of Genoa, Corsica, and Sardinia in the Renaissance Massimo Quaini A summary account of the cartographic activities in the In explaining this extended privileging of word over territories of the Republic of Genoa immediately faces the image in Liguria, scholars cite the very low level of local problem of distinguishing between telling the story of interest in visually depicting the landscape or the city.4 how Liguria and Genoa and its island territories were Others cite the difficulties in modernizing the military and mapped (by whatever agents) and explaining the Renais- bureaucratic structures of the state to focus a sustained sance cartographic culture that sprang from those regions effort on the government of its surrounding territory. (fig. 34.1). The more traditional approach of providing a Whichever examples they choose, however, their discus- sequential cartographic history of these areas through sions seem always to be colored by a traditional com- many historical periods has been well done in general monplace, nurtured first by travelers and then by histori- books such as Roberto Almagià’s Monumenta Italiae car- ans, of depicting Genoa as a purely mercantile city that tografica (1929) or, for Sardinia, Piloni’s magnum opus of showed no interest in promoting the arts or sciences.5 1974.1 Catalogs of exhibitions, replete with detailed in- Although this general picture has been substantially formation and illustrations of local manuscript maps of- modified in recent years, Genoa remains a place in which ten gleaned from archives in the regions, have tended to neither the figurative arts nor a “state-focused” political focus on the second approach, trying to reconstruct the culture can be said to have played a predominant role, par- local cartographic culture.
    [Show full text]