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Cartographic talents shown in Walters' "Maps"
Issue date: 4/17/08
Maps can be used to represent anything - from complex land and sea navigations to the intricate contours of the human brain. They can show something as large as entire galaxies or as small as an individual strand of DNA.
But are maps art?
Anyone who has struggled with an impossible-to-fold road map would say no. But a new exhibit at the Walters Art Museum shows the true talent and beauty behind cartography.
Now these everyday objects are part of Maps: Finding our Place in the World is the largest exhibition of maps in the past 50 years.
If you're doubting the power of maps to affect humanity, the Walters may change your mind with its new exhibit called The Map that Changed the World.
Created in 1812 by William Smith, the 11-foot-tall geological study of Great Britain is imposing. As Smith plotted the different rock formations, he realized that England must have been shaped over millions of years - much more than the Protestant Church - endorsed 6,000 year timeline.
This provided the timeline that a scientist by the name of Charles Darwin needed to give weight to his theory of evolution. You may have heard of it.
Another map depicts the plotting of cholera deaths in London during a mid-19th century outbreak of the disease. Each death is gruesomely marked with a tiny coffin, but the map helped show that because deaths were clustered around a water source the disease had to be spread through water.
A handwritten map by Thomas Jefferson shows his plans for how he would like to see the United States take shape - imagine a dozen rectangular slices of state where Indiana and Missouri are now.
More artistic representations include three pieces by Leonardo DaVinci. One of DaVinci's maps includes different colors for different gradients which he made using a topography technique 300 years before it was implemented.
Part of the exhibit is dedicated to "Maps of the Imagination." These are pieces created by authors to illustrate the fantastic and magical worlds they have dreamed up.
For all you Frodo lovers: The exhibit displays an original autographed manuscript by J.R.R. Tolkein, which includes maps of Minas Tirith, Lonely Mountain and other Middle-earth highlights.
See if you can find the Heffalumps hiding in A.A. Milne's map of the Hundred-Acre Woods.
Hopkins is getting in on the map-making act: Seven students helped to create an exhibition that uses a series of Hubble Telescope images to map the cosmos.
This exhibit has been so successful in drawing audiences of all ages that there are talks to have it tour the country.
The museum has even coordinated a series of map-making workshops, where Baltimore residents from 23 communities captured their neighborhoods.
The exhibit will run through June 8. Tickets for college students are $6.
But are maps art?
Anyone who has struggled with an impossible-to-fold road map would say no. But a new exhibit at the Walters Art Museum shows the true talent and beauty behind cartography.
Now these everyday objects are part of Maps: Finding our Place in the World is the largest exhibition of maps in the past 50 years.
If you're doubting the power of maps to affect humanity, the Walters may change your mind with its new exhibit called The Map that Changed the World.
Created in 1812 by William Smith, the 11-foot-tall geological study of Great Britain is imposing. As Smith plotted the different rock formations, he realized that England must have been shaped over millions of years - much more than the Protestant Church - endorsed 6,000 year timeline.
This provided the timeline that a scientist by the name of Charles Darwin needed to give weight to his theory of evolution. You may have heard of it.
Another map depicts the plotting of cholera deaths in London during a mid-19th century outbreak of the disease. Each death is gruesomely marked with a tiny coffin, but the map helped show that because deaths were clustered around a water source the disease had to be spread through water.
A handwritten map by Thomas Jefferson shows his plans for how he would like to see the United States take shape - imagine a dozen rectangular slices of state where Indiana and Missouri are now.
More artistic representations include three pieces by Leonardo DaVinci. One of DaVinci's maps includes different colors for different gradients which he made using a topography technique 300 years before it was implemented.
Part of the exhibit is dedicated to "Maps of the Imagination." These are pieces created by authors to illustrate the fantastic and magical worlds they have dreamed up.
For all you Frodo lovers: The exhibit displays an original autographed manuscript by J.R.R. Tolkein, which includes maps of Minas Tirith, Lonely Mountain and other Middle-earth highlights.
See if you can find the Heffalumps hiding in A.A. Milne's map of the Hundred-Acre Woods.
Hopkins is getting in on the map-making act: Seven students helped to create an exhibition that uses a series of Hubble Telescope images to map the cosmos.
This exhibit has been so successful in drawing audiences of all ages that there are talks to have it tour the country.
The museum has even coordinated a series of map-making workshops, where Baltimore residents from 23 communities captured their neighborhoods.
The exhibit will run through June 8. Tickets for college students are $6.
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