The central section of the map richly depicts the continental areas of Europe, Asia, Africa, as well as numerous small islands. Over 3000 beautifully lettered red, blue, and gold inscriptions provide a wealth of encyclopedic information. Physical and geographic objects, such as cities, mountains, forests, oceans, and rivers are depicted in an  elaborate style.

The mappamundi is heavily influenced by a number of sources, including Islamic cartography, as demonstrated by the southern orientation of the map. The mappamundi is also heavily influenced by Christianity and Biblical stories, as demonstrated by the image of the Garden of Eden in one of the four circular depictions outside of the central frame. Another of these depictions, a cosmological diagram of the solar system, reveals another source of information for the mappamundi: Ptolemy’s Geography. The last two depictions are of the four elements and of the earth as a globe, separated into sections by the North and South poles, the Equator, and the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. (Ezra Ward-Packard '20)]]> Il Mappamondo di Fra Mauro. Roma: Istituto Poligrafico Dello Stato, Libreria Dello Stato, 2002.]]> Cartography in the European Renaissance, ed. David Woodward, 285–364. Vol. 3 of The History of Cartography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Cosgrove, Denis E. “Images of Renaissance Cosmography, 1450–1650” In Cartography in the European Renaissance, ed. David Woodward, 55–98. Vol. 3 of The History of Cartography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Woodward, David. “Medieval Mappaemundi.” In Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean, ed. David Woodward and J. Brian Harley, 286–370. Vol. 1 of The History of Cartography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.

Falchetta, Piero, Jeremy Scott, Caterina Balletti, and Marino Zorzi. Fra Mauro's World Map : With a Commentary and Translations of the Inscriptions. Terrarum Orbis 5. Turnhout : Brepols; Venice: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, 2006.]]> Carleton Gould Library Special Collections (Horizontal Shelving) G1026 .M35 2002]]>