Maps have always been sources of graphic information. From hunting directions etched into ivory to early Polynesian woven nets, they have conveyed images of the earth used by people for survival and advancement. But maps have a strong aesthetic tradition. The old masters such as Mercator created engravings by incising copper plates in a mirror image of the final print, and incorporating the latest geographical information available from seafarers and explorers. These are also beautiful artistic cre-ations of their time, contemporary with the High Renaissance art period, perhaps the greatest in Western history.
Besides the objective information they convey, perhaps unique in artistic expression, maps offer the viewer a sense of order. Maps draw the viewer into their fields of view and immerse the viewer. Though maps have irregular boundaries and lines, there is often a rectilinearity that can reflect elements in the physical environments, such as galleries, libraries and studies, in which they are displayed. Maps transport the viewer, as no other genre can, to a different place.
