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This is a hand-coloured engraving, and a flat copy loses the fine lettering and turns the colours muddy. Our Ortelius map of the world was graded beside the original so every coastline and name stays sharp and the blues, greens and creams keep their old colour.
Canvas, framed or paper
Stretched canvas. Printed on cotton canvas and stretched taut over a frame. The edges are mirror-wrapped, so the picture continues around the sides and none of it is lost to the fold.
Framed canvas. The same canvas, set in a black, white, natural wood or dark wood frame 0.83 in deep. The frame gives the work a finished edge and a little more presence on the wall.
Framed print. Printed on fine art matte paper and framed in solid pine, behind shatterproof plexiglass, in black, white, natural wood or dark wood. It arrives ready to hang. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame.
Fine art print. Printed on 310gsm fine art matte paper, for framing your own way. It travels rolled and protected. From 18x24 inch.
Sizes
18x12 inch, 24x16 inch, 30x20 inch, 36x24 inch. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.
On your wall
Its wide shape suits a study, a library, a hallway or above a desk. The old blues, greens and creams look wonderful with walnut, leather, navy and brass, and a black or dark wood frame suits it.
About the painting
Typus Orbis Terrarum (World Map, 1570) by Abraham Ortelius
Antwerp, 1570
Abraham Ortelius started out in Antwerp colouring other people’s maps by hand. He traded in maps and books, went to the Frankfurt fair every year, and became friends with the great mapmaker Gerardus Mercator.
The first modern atlas
On 20 May 1570 he published the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the theatre of the world: 53 maps of one size, bound in one book, with the names of the mapmakers he had drawn on. This world map opens it, an oval earth in a frame of clouds, engraved on copper.
A world not yet known
At the bottom lies a giant southern land, marked Terra Australis nondum cognita, not yet known. Beneath it Ortelius put a line from Cicero, asking what can seem great to someone who knows the size of the whole world. The atlas ran to 25 editions in seven languages in his lifetime.
Read the story
Abraham Ortelius began by colouring other people's maps. Then he put the whole world into one book.
Antwerp, 1547. Ortelius is twenty, and the painters' guild takes him in as an illuminator of maps, colouring coastlines and seas by hand.
He trades in maps and books, and every year he goes to the great book fair at Frankfurt.
There, in 1554, he meets Gerardus Mercator, the finest mapmaker of the age, and the two become friends.
Ortelius has an idea: gather the best maps of the world, make them all one size, and bind them together in a single book.
On the twentieth of May, 1570, it comes out: the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the theatre of the world. Fifty-three maps, engraved on copper.
This is the map of the whole world, an oval earth floating in a frame of clouds.
America, Africa and Asia are there, and across the bottom stretches a huge southern land, labelled "not yet known".
Beneath it he puts a line from Cicero: what can seem great to someone who knows the size of the whole world?
People love it. In his lifetime the book comes out in twenty-five editions, in seven languages.
Late in life, studying his maps, he wonders if America was once torn away from Europe and Africa. Centuries later, it turns out he was right.
Look at the coastlines. Someone coloured them by hand, just as he once did.
Typus Orbis Terrarum. Abraham Ortelius, 1570.
How each piece is brought to life
Faithful to the original, and made to be felt on your wall.
Graded against the original
We compare every work with the original as we grade it, keeping the artist’s colours true while bringing back their depth and glow. Every mark stays the artist’s own.
Printed for you
Printed to order on cotton canvas or fine art paper, then framed if you chose a frame, in 1 to 3 business days.
On your wall
It arrives 5 to 12 business days later, tracked and free anywhere in the US. Framed pieces come ready to hang.
Questions
Is this the original painting?
No. The original hangs in a museum. What you receive is a fine art reproduction, remastered from the original and printed for you, with every mark where the artist left it.
Will the colour look flat?
This is where most reproductions disappoint, and it is where we spend the most time. Each work is graded side by side with the original: faithful to the artist’s colours, with the depth and warmth brought back, so it moves you on the wall the way it was meant to. Canvas reads a touch softer than a backlit screen, and every screen shows colour a little differently.
Will the edges be cropped?
Each size is a standard frame size, so we fit the painting by trimming a little from its edges. We never stretch or squash it, and we check every size by eye so no face, figure or signature is cut. On canvas the edges are mirror-wrapped, which keeps the whole picture on the front.
Which size is right for my wall?
Aim for about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Over a sofa or a sideboard, one of the two largest sizes will hold the wall. The size guide lists every size in inches and centimetres, with the kind of wall each one suits.
How long does it take?
Your piece is printed in 1–3 business days, then spends 5–12 business days in transit, tracked all the way. Delivery is free anywhere in the US. We are unable to deliver to PO boxes.
What if it arrives damaged?
Send us a photograph and we will remake it and send it again. There is nothing to return.
Can I return it?
Yes, within 30 days of delivery. Our returns policy has the details.
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Printed to order
Graded against the original, then printed for you on cotton canvas or fine art paper in 1–3 business days.
The whole painting
Every mark is the artist’s own, and canvas edges are mirror-wrapped so the whole picture stays on the front.
Free US shipping
On every order, tracked, 5–12 business days in transit.
30-day returns
Returns and exchanges within 30 days of delivery.
