Europe, Reflected in Early Cartography

     The Cotroceni National Museum celebrates Europe’s day through different events. This year, together with our partner, the Representation of the European Comission to Romania and our collaborators, we have organized the exhibition Europe, Reflected in Early Cartography, an insight into 16th - 18th century mapmaking, through valuable maps, either unique or rare. The event opens a series of similar events dedicated to the European Year of Creativity and Innovation, that encourage a creative and innovative input in personal, economic and social development, focusing on education, research and field related debates. The exhibition is enriched by astronomical instruments of the 19th century, since 2009 was declared by the UNESCO and the UN as the year of Astronomy. Leonard Orban, the European Commusionary for Multilinguism, attended the opening.

     The organizers have set to capture the evolution of images of the old continent, through its history, and of cartography, starting from the first representations of the 15th century, through the great schools of cartography, to the first modern maps from the beginning of the 17th century. The evolution of cartography as an independent field has been closely linked to the development of printing techniques.

     Among the documents exhibited: the Nurnberg Chronicle and other maps by the founding fathers of Europen cartography (Gerhard Mercator, Abraham Ortelius), by representatives of the main European Schools of the field (Guilelmus Blaeu - Dutch school, Guillaume de l’Isle, Nicolas Sanson, Nicolas de Fer - French school, Johann Baptist Homann - German school). The Romanian Principalities also feature in the exhibition, either by maps drawn by native cartographers (Johaness Honterus, Dimitrie Cantemir or the stolnic Constantin Cantacuzino) or by their representations in the works of Giuseppe Rosaccio, Abraham Ortelius or Nicolas Sanson.



Abraham Ortelius, EVROPAE, Antwerpen, 1580? copper engraving, hand colouring, The Romanian Academy Library	Johann Mattis Hase, EVROPA Secundum legitimas Projectionis Stereographicae regulas et justa recentissimas observationes..., Nürnberg, 1743, copper engraving, hand colouring, The Braşov County History Museum

Castulus Riedl, KARTE von dem Banat TEMESWAR, München, 1789, copper engraving, Ovidiu Şandor collection	Abraham Ortelius, ROMANIA, BVLGARIA, WALACHIA ET SYRFIA, Amsterdam, 1598, copper engraving, Ovidiu Şandor collection

Abraham Ortelius, Romaniae quae olim Thracia dicta, Antwerpen, 1584, copper engraving, Ovidiu Şandor collection	Gerhard Mercator, ATLAS MINOR, Amsterdam, 1607, The Romanian Academy Library

Nicolas Sanson, Hongrie &, Paris, 1648, copper engraving, Ovidiu Şandor collection	Constantin Cantacuzino, INDICE TOPOGRAFICO Del Principato Di ValachiaVenice, 1718, copper engraving, Ovidiu Şandor collection

May 9th - Romanian State Independence Day and Europe’s Day
The Cotroceni National Museum celebrates Europe’s day through different events. This year, together with our partner, the Representation of the European Comission to Romania and our collaborators, we have organized the exhibition Europe, Reflected in Early Cartography, an insight into 16th - 18th century mapmaking, through valuable maps, either unique or rare. The event opens a series of similar events dedicated to the European Year of Creativity and Innovation, that encourage a creative and innovative input in personal, economic and social development, focusing on education, research and field related debates. The exhibition is enriched by astronomical instruments of the 19th century, since 2009 was declared by the UNESCO and the UN as the year of Astronomy. Leonard Orban, the European Commusionary for Multilinguism, attended the opening. The organizers have set to capture the evolution of images of the old continent, through its history, and of cartography, starting from the first representations of the 15th century, through the great schools of cartography, to the first modern maps from the beginning of the 17th century. The evolution of cartography as an independent field has been closely linked to the development of printing techniques. Among the documents exhibited: the Nurnberg Chronicle and other maps by the founding fathers of Europen cartography (Gerhard Mercator, Abraham Ortelius), by representatives of the main European Schools of the field (Guilelmus Blaeu - Dutch school, Guillaume de l’Isle, Nicolas Sanson, Nicolas de Fer - French school, Johann Baptist Homann - German school). The Romanian Principalities also feature in the exhibition, either by maps drawn by native cartographers (Johaness Honterus, Dimitrie Cantemir or the stolnic Constantin Cantacuzino) or by their representations in the works of Giuseppe Rosaccio, Abraham Ortelius or Nicolas Sanson.