Europae - Abraham Ortelius, 1572. (Map In Color)
This map gives you a 16th century picture of Europe on one print. The coastlines, tiny towns and ships sit on a warm parchment style background, so it works well next to books, wood and brass in a study, office or living room.
 
About this map print
This print is based on Europae, Abraham Ortelius’s map of Europe from his atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, first issued in the fifteen seventies and often called the first modern atlas. Ortelius built this map from earlier work by other cartographers, especially Mercator’s large wall map of Europe and Olaus Magnus’s map of Scandinavia, then redrew everything in a single clear style for his book. The sheet shows Europe from the Atlantic to the Black Sea, with Britain, the Scandinavian peninsula, the Italian and Iberian peninsulas and the Baltic coast all carefully outlined and labeled in Latin.

In the history of mapping, Europae is often described as the first truly modern map of Europe, replacing older medieval style views with a more accurate Renaissance outline. Ortelius used similar coastlines and place names in his world map Typus Orbis Terrarum and in regional maps like Romani Imperii Imago.

Craft & finish
This antique map print is made on hand processed paper, with subtle gold highlights and a beeswax finish so it feels like real parchment when you hold it. The surface catches the light softly on the raised parts of the paper, but colors can look slightly different from screen to screen.

Find more prints like this in our Antique Maps collection.