mappa mundi - 'sheet of the world'

map: ORIGIN early 16th cent.: from medieval Latin mappa mundi, literally ‘sheet of the world,’ from Latin mappa ‘sheet, napkin’ + mundi ‘of the world’ ( genitive of mundus).


The past two posts have contained maps and this one is no exception except here we go back centuries and see historical and imaginative works that contain absorbing histories. These images all come from the admirable Jane Librizzi at The Blue Lantern weblog. Click on the title of each image to go to the excellent posts at this blog.

The Walled City of Paris























Parma: Walled City of the Etruscans - 15th Century fanciful map of an old city dating back to the Bronze Age, c 3000 BC - June 4th Post. One of the commenters to this post on the Blue Lantern referred to the Etruscan Museum outside Florence which I remember making a point of going to a long time ago, having lightly touched on this wonderful culture during school days and having a lingering fascination years after seeing the lively frescoes and artifacts in text books.



















Image below found at www.themysteriousetruscans.com



Tomb of the Bulls Detail, Tarquinia


Fanciful Cities: Franco Fortunato - 5th June post contains wonderful images and information that includes references to the artist Fortunato, the Italian poet and writer Italo Calvino and the family of Jane Librizzi from weblog 'Blue Lantern'.