Commonly referred to as a “medieval treasure,” the Mappa Mundi is most likely the next thing Nicholas Cage will steal in National Treasure III. Dating back to around 1300AD, this ancient map of the then-known/understood inhabited world is old, detailed and truly worthy of a digitalization project in order to enlighten the masses; hence The Mappa Mundi Project! Using some complicated software and even more expensive equipment, those concerned with the conservation of important historical objects took it upon themselves to create a new and improved way of interacting with the map and its 1000+ drawings and inscriptions relating to cities, towns, Biblical events, animals, strange creatures, and monstrous races.
Sources
Calfskin (aka vellum), ink and a limited understanding of the inhabited world. The Mappa Mundi project is based on a medieval depiction of the world around 1300AD, as a Christian Europe perceived it. The map is about five feet from top to bottom and 4 feet side to side with cities, figures, landscapes etc.. This limited understanding of the world and the Christian influence amounts in a map that depicts Jerusalem as the center, Jesus Christ on a throne in the top portion, and the British Isles on the bottom left.
Processing
The main difference between this historical object (Mappa Mundi) and the historical object that Nicholas Cage stole in National Treasure (The Declaration of Independence), is that no lemon juice was used to reveal this map’s secrets. The process involved a souped-up version of the laser scanner used at a Ralph’s checkout and software written by artists and technicians from an organization called Factum Arte. The team from Factum Arte carefully recreated a digital 3-D scan of the map that allows us (the non-history buff, general public) to explore the intricacies and stories found scrawled on this “medieval treasure.”
Presentation
The presentation is extremely interactive and a good deal of fun! There are three basic ways to view the digital map, “Original,” “Color Enhanced,” and “3D Scan.” Each of these highlights a slightly different detail or feature of the map. For instance, the Color Enhanced filter allows a more rich view of the landscapes represented, the 3D Scan view adds nuance by revealing things such as frantic scratches (from a frustrated artist perhaps?), and smudged out cities (too many medieval tourists finding their city on the map?). The map is then divided into categories, “Myths and Legends,” “Bible Stories,” “Beasts of the World,” “Strange Peoples of the World,” and “Towns and Cities.”
Overall, this was an admirable task to undertake. The ease of navigating the many aspects of the map excites the user and makes for an enjoyable trip back to medieval Europe!
I loved reading through your blog post @jbarnett! Your descriptive explanations of the sources and processing make it so easy to read through and gain a thorough understanding for the project. I too explored Mappa Mundi, so reading someone else’s take on the project was really cool. I loved how you incorporated the Nicholas Cage reference, I was laughing out loud when I read that. Thanks so much for sharing!!
Hi,
I liked how your blog post had subheading for the 3 components of the reverse engineering, this made your post really clear to read and understand. Your breakdown of the Mappa Mundi project was detailed and informational, yet at the same time was still concise and very entertaining to read! Great work 🙂