Bunting’s Clover Leaf Map

Maps give knowledge about the world in a straightforward, visual fashion. Maps portray several aspects of geography, such as the size of nations, locations of landmarks, and distances between them. Maps may depict how items are distributed globally, such as land-use patterns. Cartographers, or mapmakers, construct maps for a variety of reasons.

All maps are representations of geographical reality on a smaller scale. The map’s scale illustrates the connection between the map’s distances and the total distance on Earth. Bunting’s cloverleaf map is an example of a mediaeval map-making technique in which the world is shown symbolically.

Bunting’s Clover Leaf Map

Heinrich Bunting, a German Protestant priest, theologian, and cartographer, created this ancient Mappa Mundi. In 1581, he published the map in his publication Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae – Journey through Holy Scripture. Bunting employed symbolism to commemorate his “Dear Fatherland” as a loyal resident of Hannover, whose shield of arms included the cloverleaf. The three-leaf clover was also used to symbolise the Holy Trinity, giving a vibrant Christian representation of the universe an extra layer of theological significance. Bunting was well informed that the countries were not, in fact, in the shape of a cloverleaf. There are enough figures in his paintings to show he was aware of the continents’ uneven, rather than symbolic, form.

Jerusalem stands at the map’s centre, encircled by the three continents of Europa, Africa, and Asia, which form three clover-shaped leaves.  The top-left red leaf form represents Europe, the bottom yellow leaf shape represents Africa, and the top-right green body represents Asia. The subtitles for the three continents feature pictures of a few of their towns and captions for their respective countries. Europe has one depiction of the Italian city of Rome, Africa contains three drawings, one of which is the Egyptian town of Alexandria, and Asia contains nine illustrations.

World Map Before Discovery of America (1493)

This 1491 map is the greatest preserved map of the world as it existed when Christopher Columbus sailed over the Atlantic for the first time. It’s possible that Columbus utilised a duplicate of it to plan his expedition. The map was constructed by the German geographer Henricus Martellus and was entirely covered in hundreds of legends and descriptive text. The majority of it has faded with time.

According to Chet Van Duzer, the historian of World Map Before Discovery of America (1493) who conducted the study, 15th-century Europeans did not assume Columbus would go off the tip of a flat Earth, contrary to popular belief. However, their world concept differed significantly from ours, as seen by Martellus’ map. It depicts Europe and the Mediterranean Sea in a more or less authentic way or at the very least identifiable. On the other hand, Southern Africa is formed like a shoe with its toe facing east, while Asia is similarly twisted.

Japanese Propaganda Map, 1904.

In 1904, Suketar Nishida released a Japanese propaganda map made by Kisabur Ohara and released in Tokyo. The map depicts Russia as an octopus with clutching tentacles that spread over Europe and Asia, throwing a shadow over neighbouring nations, and was created during the commencement of the Russo-Japanese War and placed above white opposing imperial aspirations in Manchuria and Korea.

Japanese Propaganda Map, 1904 map was made for both English and Japanese speakers, and it included panels with explanations in both languages. The English section covers allusions to Fred W. Rose’s Serio-comic battle map (1877), including the Russian Black Octopus. The Russo-Japanese war was essentially a series of naval battles. This map was meant to persuade Britain to preserve its neutrality – that is, to maintain her formidable navy out of the conflict. The reality that the name, nation names, and the large text block are all in English is the clearest indication of the mapmaker’s goal. “‘Black Octopus’ is a term recently granted to Russia by a particularly notable Englishman,” the text continues. Because the black octopus is so greedy, he extends out his eight arms in all areas, grabbing everything that falls within his grasp.

Conclusion

Bunting Cloverleaf Map is a figurative artwork that depicts the world in a clover shape, similar to the mediaeval Mappa Mundi style.  The form is also found on the coat of arms of Hanover, where Bunting was born and represented the Christian Trinity. From the Latin version of Hartmann Schedel’s Liber Chronicum, a striking instance of the first version of his map of the world. Schedel’s map is among the first World maps available and one of the most aesthetically arresting. Schedel’s map, which was published barely 40 years after the discovery of printing, depicts the world as it was soon before Columbus’ trip and Dias’ round of a Cape of Good Hope.