Making Space for Thought

The blurred line between representation and reality in maps and

diagrams of the 11th to 13th centuries

Some initial questions:

• How can we come to a more nuanced understand medieval maps and diagrams?

• What specificities of medieval thought need to be understood on their own terms before this questions can be addressed?

Discussion Outline

• What is meant by a representation?

• Discussion of source materials and their salient traits

• Proposal of some medieval ideas that ‘blur the lines’ between representation and reality within these images

Medieval Approaches

Image as Distillation?• The ‘mustard seed’ principle – the

representation as a ‘seed’ of a ‘real’ idea• The text as a ‘memory’ of higher principles

Image as Contraction?• The Divine Emanation• The Chain of Being• Quidditas Contracta (contracted quiddity)

Medieval Approaches (cont.)

Image as Sign or Symbol?• The ‘Book of Nature’ or ‘Mirror of the

WorldImage as Independent Creation?• That which is created but does not create

as a ‘type’ of nature, and thus distinct• The creation of a creation is still an act of

the original Creator

Conclusions

• All images must be a type of representation or copy of an original to some extent

• This does not prevent us perceiving a middle position between this representation and the thing it represents

• Medieval thought furnishes us with ideas that appear to support an interpretation of the map or diagram as both copy and original