4 ms·
I'm always surprised at the awful artistic skills of maps during this period. If you look at the details, you can see how wobbly and uneven the simplest of line
by c3534l 9y ago
I'm always surprised at the awful artistic skills of maps during this period. If you look at the details, you can see how wobbly and uneven the simplest of lines and curves are. It seems odd because on the very large scale it would appear as if some sort of compass and other devises were used, but simple lines consist of overlapping strokes, erratic and handwritting that refuses to be consistently centered, and child-like scribbles for trees. For a 20 year effort, it seems careless and lacking in even rudimentary art skills. But this seems tn be every map from the period, not just this one.
- hycaria 9y agoMaybe because they had to get more ink between each stroke ? No fountain pen yet (appeared during the 17th in Europe)
- c3534l 9y agoThen why not center the letters in each box, rather than write them carelessly? Even if the lines were of uneven width, they're still not straight lines when they should be straight, wobbly when they should be elliptical.
- kbutler 9y agoPerhaps the map makers had different esthetic priorities than you have?
- svachalek 9y agoThis is not an uncommon reaction to medieval art in general, not just on maps. When I went to school we were taught it was due to "dark ages" of lost skills, but it seems modern history is giving it kinder treatment as "different priorities". Some discussion here: https://www.quora.com/Why-do-medieval-drawings-look-very-badly-drawn-in-comparison-to-Renaissance-art https://www.quora.com/Why-do-medieval-drawings-look-very-bad...