Additional Maps and Conclusion
The additional image from the Liber Floridus shows an artistic depiction of Paradise. When viewed along with the map in the book, it provides a fuller picture of what Lambert of Saint-Omer imagined paradise to be. On the small map, paradise is shown as a location from the outside, but the painting of paradise shows what Lambert thought paradise would look like from the inside.
Similar to Leardo’s world map, the Walsperger map depicts Paradise as a large city in the east. It is greatly out of proportion to the rest of the map, so it has the most visual impact. The idea of paradise as a location on Earth is clearly shown in the Walsperger Map and the Leardo Map because the cities of Paradise are not completely separated from the rest of the map.
The Ebstorf World Map represents Paradise as Eden at the top of the map with an image of Christ’s head above it. Hands are drawn at the north and south of the map, and feet are shown at the west of the map. This gives the image of Christ surrounding the entire map. Paradise on the Ebstorf map is closed off from the rest of Earth, but Christ is shown as encompassing the entire Earth.
The inclusion of Paradise on different maps spanning nearly six hundred years highlights the prominence of the overall convention and its importance for many mapmakers. There is clearly no one way to depict paradise, but there are some overall trends that span these maps. Some of the maps depict it as a city whereas others depict it as a much smaller and more confined place with room only for Adam and Eve. Some of the maps include paradise directly on the Earth while others separate it physically from the rest of the word.
The mapmakers use these different conventions to convey their own messages about Christianity. It is important to note that these changes in the depiction of paradise do not happen linearly over time, with different conventions present on a wide range of maps from a wide range of time periods. This points to the idea that progress in map-making is not a linear path between the oldest maps and the maps we are accustomed to in the present day. Maps do not become more correct or accurate over time, but instead adopt a wide range of styles in order to effectively communicate the message they are trying to convey.
References:
Goetsch, Emily. “World Maps and Waterways: Place and Space in the Beatus Mappaemundi” ch. 17 In Place and Space in the Medieval World. New York: Routledge, 2018.
Scafi, Alessandro. Mapping Paradise : A History of Heaven on Earth. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2006. Pg 125-159.
Woodward, David. 1987. “Medieval Mappaemundi.” In The History of Cartography, 286-370. Vol. 1. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987.