Getting the Message of Abraham Ortelius’ Heart-Shaped Map and Atlas

In 1564, the celebrated Flemish cartographer Abraham Ortelius published his first cartographic work: a world map in shape of heart. This manifests spiritual call toward unity heavily influenced by heterodox sect known as Family Love. Six years later, edition groundbreaking magnum opus, an atlas entitled Theatrum orbis terrarum. With this later work, unorthodox message cordiform was not erased but transmuted into form atlas. Ortelius’ example demonstrates how ways which knowledge circulated within humanist networks ensured that concerns, particularly ones, continued to influence European cartography long after rediscovery and translation Ptolemy early fifteenth century.