Asiatische Tafel: Syria, Cyprus, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Arabia — Sebastian Münster, 1588
Coming 11/11
- Cartographer
- Sebastian Münster
- Date
- 1588
- Publication
- Cosmographia · Basel, Sebastian Petri, 1588
- Subject
- Syria, Cyprus, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Arabia
- Medium
- Woodcut with original hand colour
- Dimensions
- 30.5 × 35.5 cm (woodcut); 35.5 × 42.5 cm (paper)
- Condition
- Very good; original hand colour
About this piece
A hand-coloured woodcut from the 1588 German edition of Sebastian Münster’s Cosmographia, published in Basel by Sebastian Petri. The sheet brings Syria, Cyprus, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Babylonia and parts of Arabia together in one image. It follows Ptolemy’s fourth table of Asia, which gives the map a distinctly classical geography even though the woodblock belongs to the late Renaissance.
Cyprus lies offshore in the eastern Mediterranean. To the east, the Tigris and Euphrates give structure to the lands of Mesopotamia and Babylonia, while the title distinguishes two Arabias. The pairing of ancient names with the visual language of the 1588 edition makes this a particularly interesting companion to Münster’s maps of Asia and the Holy Land.
This impression retains its original hand colouring. The paper is in very good condition. The woodcut measures 30.5 × 35.5 cm and the sheet measures 35.5 × 42.5 cm.