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From Wikipedia:
Fool's World Map, based on Ortelius's third 'Typus Orbis Terrarum,' which suggests a publication date after 1587. Published by an unknown maker, it shows a fool's or jester's cap with a world map where the face would be. In this conceit, it is based on an earlier woodcut map by Jean de Gourmant. The text is in Latin : (panel on the left) 'Democritus Abderites deridebat, Heraclites Ephesius deflebat, Epichthonnis Cosmopolites deformabat' / 'Democritus of Abdera laughed at it' [the world], 'Heraclitus of Ephesus wept over it', 'Epichtonius Cosmopolites portrayed it'; (above the cap) 'Nosce te ipsum' / 'Know thyself' (from the Greek dictum 'gnothi seauton' reputedly inscribed on the temple of Apollo at Delphi); (across the cap’s brow) 'O caput ellebore dignum' / 'O head, worthy of a dose of hellebore' (a poisonous plant). On the cap's ears: 'Auriculas asini quis non habet' /'Who does not have donkey's ears?', a phrase ascribed to Lucius Annaeus Cornutus, a Roman stoic philosopher from the 1st century AD. The Latin quote immediately above the map is from Pliny the Elder's 'Natural History' (bk. 2 ch. 72) 'Hic est mundi punctus et materia gloriae nostrae, hic sedes, hic honores gerimus, hic exercemus imperia, hic opes cupimus, hic tumultuatur humanum genus, hic instauramus bella, etiam civica.' / 'For in the whole universe the Earth is nothing else and this is the substance of our glory, this is its habitation, here it is that we fill positions of power and covet wealth, and throw mankind into an uproar, and launch wars, even civil ones.' Below the map is the reason for this, taken from Ecclesiastes, 1.15: Stultorum infinitus est et numerus' / 'The number of fools is infinite' (7). Another quote from Ecclesiastes (1.2) is shown as engraved in the cup at the top of the jester's staff on the right: 'Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas' / 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity'. The badges on the decorative belt crossing the figure's shoulder on the left read: 'O curas hominum, O quantum est in rebus inane' / 'Oh, the worries of the world; oh, how much triviality is there in the world', which is the opening of the 'Satires' of Aulus Persius Flaccus’ Satires; 'Stultus factus est omnis homo' / 'All men are without sense' (Jer. 10.14) and 'Universa vanitas omnis homo' / 'All things are vanity, by every man living' (Psalm 39.6).

 

All of our reproductions are done on hand-processed paper, illuminated with gold paint and finished with beeswax, giving them a real parchment-like look. Actual colors may vary a bit due to different monitors displaying colors differently.

Fool's Cap World Map, 1590

€25.00Price
  • CARE INSTRUCTIONS:

    In case your print creases during the travel, as it usually does travel for some time, you can safely warm it up with a hair-dryer, and the wax will melt back right into it. You can also use a lighter, which is a much faster method, but be careful to keep the flame either above the paper or parallel to it (which means holding the paper vertically) so it doesn't smudge or even catch fire. The chance of the print actually creasing is very small, as they are rolled in bubble-wrap and shipped in a cardboard box.Also, be sure to keep the print out of the direct sunlight, as it can melt or fade.

  • MORE ABOUT OUR REPLICAS:

    Visit the link below to see more about how our replicas are made, how to display them, and repair the damage:
    https://www.aeterna.shop/post/about-our-parchment-replicas

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