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Shakespeare’s Othello woos Desdemona with his tales of travel, of:
‘Rough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads touch heaven,
… of the Cannibals that each other eat,
The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads
Do grow beneath their shoulders’
Renaissance readers were as enchanted as the Moor’s bride by tales and pictures of the many far-flung parts to which discoverers were travelling. As voyagers explored lands previously unknown to Europeans, so print technology enabled the recording and dissemination of their observations. A work of Egyptology, a description of Lapland, and an account of Siam enabled those who stayed at home to share and wonder at the experiences of travellers.
Travellers were changed
by their encounters with other civilisations and ways of life, as seen in the
images of Jesuit missionaries in China, whose dress and surroundings
suggest a blending in with their new environment. Meanwhile there was a strong
desire to make sense of the territories through which travellers passed, not
only by description, but also by mapping. Richard Hakluyt’s Principall
Navigations includes a magnificant map showing how the world was understood
from an English perspective. At the same time many travellers came to England from elsewhere; Hogenberg’s Plan of
London was just one in a collection of over 500 maps and views of cities,
and gives us one of the clearest topographies we have of early modern London.
Images
Anonymous (17th century) Confucius
These three prints by an unknown artist appear in Athanasius Kircher’s China monumentis, qua sacris qua profanis, nec non variis naturae and artis spectaculis, aliarumque rerum memorabilius argumentis illustrata (1667; French translation 1670), most commonly referred to as China Illustrata.
Kircher (1601 – 1680) was a German Jesuit scholar who studied mathematics, humanities and oriental languages. He was famous in his day as a ‘decipherer’ of hieroglyphs – most of which have been disproven as fantastical - but made such important links between the ancient Egyptian and Coptic languages that he is sometimes called the founder of Egyptology. His interests also extended to the Far East, particularly China.
Kircher based China Illustrata on eye-witness accounts gathered from western missionaries in the Far East to provide a wide range of material, from detailed maps to descriptions of mythical dragons. The book also comprises a collection of previously unpublished writings on oriental countries, their geography, botany, zoology, languages and religions, as well as an historical snapshot of the Eastern mission. Kircher’s book was extremely popular – so much so that he is described today as the first scientist to be able to support himself through the sale of his books.
Matteo Ricci and Paul Sui, Jesuit Missionaries in China
Adam Johann Schall von Bell, Jesuit Missionary in China
Franz Hogenberg (Netherlandish, active 1594-1614), Plan of London, 1572. Engraving with hand colouring on paper
This print appeared in a German atlas of European cities, first published in Cologne under the title Civitates Orbis Terrarum in 1572, but was also sold as a single sheet. The six volumes were published over four decades and contained around 545 views and maps of cities, starting a trend of topographical publications that continued for two centuries. The text was written by George Braun (1541-1622) and most of the images were engraved by Hogenberg with the assistance of other artists, many based on existing maps.
This birds-eye view is one of the most important maps of 16th-century London. At this time London had a population of approximately 90,000 people. It had expanded beyond its walls, and had grown into an important centre of trade and industry. The river is dotted with many different kinds of boats, including commercial merchant ships and personal water taxis, as well as a royal barge at the centre. The figures at the front of this image represent two of the principal types of the city’s inhabitants, a gentleman and a merchant with their wives, who welcome the viewer to the environs of the city.
UCL Art Museum EPC 4787
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778), View of the Pyramid of Gaius Cestius, from the Vedute di Roma, c. 1761 etching on paper
{No image} This atmospheric scene of the pyramid of Cestius in Rome appeared as part of Piranesi’s celebrated series of views of Roman architecture known as the Vedute di Roma which were published individually or in groups from 1748 and throughout the rest of his career. All the etchings were published in a large-scale format that allowed him to play up the dramatic potential of Roman ruins. The site of this monument had particular importance for English and other Northern European tourists as it overlooked the Protestant cemetery.
Piranesi’s work as an archaeologist, artist, architect, theorist and designer had far reaching impact. Through both his personal contacts, and the production of over 30 published volumes on Roman architecture over 35 years, he was a powerful influence on the development and spread of Neo-classicism throughout Europe.
UCL Special Collections