The Map as Art and Craft


Amplissimę Regionis Mississipi Seu Provinciae Ludovicianae ą R. P. Ludovico
Hennepin Francisc Miss in America Septentrionali

Amplissimę Regionis Mississipi Seu Provinciae Ludovicianae ą R. P. Ludovico Hennepin Francisc Miss in America Septentrionali
[An Enhancement of the Mississippi Region and the Louisiana Provinces from R. P. Ludovico Hennepin, Franciscan Missionary in North America]

Io.[Johann] Bapt[ist] Homanno
Nuremberg, c. 1719

The title cartouche, topped with a bison head, represents the conversion of indigenous peoples to Christianity. A missionary holding a cross, followed by a musket-bearing European explorer, faces a nude male. This figure, depicted in the contrapposto position and with European facial features, looks more like a Roman statue than an Indian. The inset directly below shows Niagara Falls and animals that appear to be beavers.

The middle right inset features the coat of arms of the Company of the West. A man wearing Brazilian Indian attire and an Indian woman bearing her child in a cradle board flank a bison. The buffalo made a profound impression on Europeans. Numerous illustrations of it were made, all showing a shaggy ox-like animal because oxen, unlike the North American buffalo, were native to Europe. An opossum hangs above the buffalo. The bird seen below may be the artist's misconception of a pelican.

Although the maker of this map imitated Delisle's 1718 map, Homann's rendition covered a slightly larger area and placed New Orleans on the wrong side of the Mississippi River.

Loaned by Dr. and Mrs. E. Ralph Lupin


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