Three Main Maps for Analysis
After the Muslim Conquest of Iberia in 711, Christian communities faced insecurity in terms of both their physical and religious space (Goetsch 2018, 198). This map of the known world, or mappamundi, is part of Beatus of Liebana’s Girona Codex (975). It is one of the most highly decorated manuscripts of his Commentary on the Apocalypse written in the tenth century. The art on this map shows the influence of Islamic art, but overall Beatus sought to solidify Christian space within his maps.
Beatus' depiction of paradise which is positioned at the top of the map in the east helps to achieve this. It is depicted as a rectangular box shaded blue with Adam and Eve enclosed fairly tightly in it and the snake from the Bible curling around the right edge. This depiction situates the map within the religious context of the work it appears in.
The Girona Codex map also includes a fourth continent on the right edge of the map, on the other side of the red sea, which Beatus believes must be introduced to Christianity. The inclusion of this continent in juxtaposition with the inclusion of paradise highlights the apostles' mission to bring Christianity to every part of the world and plays a key part in reestablishing a comprehensive Christian realm.
Giovanni Leardo's Mappamundi from 1442 provides an example of a different way to show paradise. Giovanni Leardo integrated several religious references in his map, culminating in his portrayal of paradise. Starting from the outside of the map, the map is surrounded by a calendar that marks the dates of Easter. Its appearance as an intricate border makes the calendar a prominent feature of the map, indicating that Leardo wanted to highlight the religious elements of his map. The map is also centered on Jerusalem, which made clear that the featured area was the Holy Land. Leardo continues his religious focus by including paradise on the map.
Paradise is shown at the top of Leardo's map as a city with four rivers leading from it. It is not separated from the rest of the map; instead it looks like another location on Earth. Unlike many earlier medieval maps showing paradise, Leardo’s paradise is not closed off by a border or water. This has less of an initial visual impact as the clearly separate paradises, but on closer inspection can indicate that Leardo believed that paradise was not as separate from the Earth as others believed.
Paradise in the Liber Floridus Mappamundi is different from the other two maps because it is an island that is connected to eastern Asia by a thin bridge of land. That bridge provides land for the continuation of the 4 rivers of Eden. This oceanic divide provides visual emphasis of its inaccessible nature; it is a reminder of separation between humanity and the forbidden.
It is also notable that as an island, paradise is in the encircling ocean, which was seen as dangerous and inhospitable to humans. The use of boats and oceanic crossings out of the Mediterranean in the 12th century was very risky and often deadly; strong oceangoing ships did not exist yet, and that technology would not develop for another two centuries.
The visual separation of paradise by a large swathe of water and four large rivers, combined with contemporary views of the encircling ocean, signified an insurmountable barrier to humans.