Pictorial map

What are Pictorial Maps.

Pictorial maps are a category of maps that also loosely includes illustrated maps, panoramic maps, bird’s-eye view maps and Geopictorial maps. In contrast to regular road maps, atlases or topographical cartography, pictorial maps depict a given territory with a more artistic rather than technical style. The cartography can be a sophisticated perspective landscape or a simple map graphic enlivened with illustrations of buildings, people and animals. They can feature all sorts of diverse topics such as historical events, legendary figures or local agricultural products and cover anything from an entire continent to a college campus. Drawn by specialized artists and illustrators, pictorial maps are a rich, centuries-old tradition and a diverse art form that ranges from cartoon tourist maps on restaurant placemats to treasured art prints in museums.

Pictorial maps usually represent cities, neighborhoods or countries portrayed as if viewed from above at an oblique angle. They are not generally drawn to scale in order to show street patterns, individual buildings, and major landscape features in perspective. While regular maps are based on the accurate rendition of distances, pictorial maps enhance landmarks and often incorporate a complex interplay of different scales into one image in order to give the viewer a more familiar sense of recognition. With an emphasis on objects and style rather than scale, these maps cover an artistic spectrum from childlike caricature to spectacular landscape graphic with the better ones being attractive, informative and highly accurate and requiring thousands of hours to produce.

The history and tradition of pictorial maps

Will Durant said “ Maps show us the face of History”. This is especially true of pictorial maps because their vocation has always been to present a visual message. Throughout the ages, pictorial maps have been used to show the cuisine of a country, the industries of a city, the attractions of a tourist town, the history of a region or its sacred sites.

An ancient Babylonian stone carving depicting a primitive portrait overview of a main temple surrounded by secondary buildings suggests that pictorial maps have been around since recorded history began. The art of illustrating bird’s-eye-view urban landscapes flourished when cities themselves began to appear in the European Middle Ages. As emerging trade centers such as Venice and Lyons began to prosper, local rulers commissioned artists to develop pictorial overviews of their towns to help them organize trade fairs and direct the increasing flow of visiting merchants. When printing came around, pictorial maps evolved into the one of the firsts forms of advertising as cities competed amongst themselves to attract larger shares of the known world’s commerce.

In Medieval cartography religious and historical ideas usually overshadowed accurate geographic proportions and details such as when maps represented the three known continents in the form of a cross with Jerusalem at its center. During the Age of Exploration maps became progressively more accurate for navigation purposes and were often sprinkled with drawings of sea creatures, sailing ships showing the direction of trade winds, little trees and mounds to represent forests and mountains as well as exotic native animals and populations much of them imaginary. As the need for geographical accuracy increased, these illustrations gradually slipped off the map and onto the borders and eventually disappeared altogether in the wake of modern scientific cartography

The pictorial art form however went its own way and regained popularity in 19th century with the development of the railroads. Between 1825 and 1875, the production and collection of panoramic maps of cities rose to something of a mania. In the U.S. alone, thousands of panoramic maps were produced. Somewhat like the websites of their time, every town had to have one to remain competitive in attracting industry and the immigrant trade. Sometimes artistic exaggeration bordered on the fraudulent as some travelers were drawn to images of idyllic, bustling towns with humming factories only to find a sad little bunch of mud-soaked shacks. A vast collection of these prints is maintained by the Library of Congress and many of the more beautiful ones continue to be reprinted and sold to this day albeit for their artistic rather than promotional value.

With the growth of tourism, pictorial mapmaking reappeared as a popular culture art form in the 1920s through the 1950s, often with a whimsical Art Deco style that reflects the period. Another resurgence occurred in the 1970s and 80s. This was the heyday of companies like Archar and Descartes who produced many colorful promotional advertising maps wherein local businesses were flatteringly drawn on the map with their logos proudly imbedded on their buildings. Looking at these maps and who sponsored them over the years, one can clearly see the changing face of industry as the illustrations of manufacturing plants morphed into the business parks of the service and high tech economy.

Ironically however, despite all the changes that they record, very little has changed in the business of creating pictorial maps over the centuries. Showing off a given town, attracting visitors and stirring up local pride is what they have always been about. Most of these maps were and continue to be created by a handful of itinerant specialists who have kept up the tradition. They traveled from city to city enlisting the support of local merchants, industrialists and civic organization whose endorsement would of course guarantee a prominent place for their buildings or their lands on the map. Eli Whitfield for instance, one of the more famous 19th century American pictorial map artists, would require about 200 subscribers before he put pen to paper. Once he secured the profitability of the venture, Whitfield would be seen all over town furiously sketching every building. Then, choosing an imaginary aerial vantage point, he would integrate all his sketches into a complete and detailed drawing of the city. Then after that, say the chroniclers of the time, Whitfield would once again be seen furiously darting all over town to collect from all his sponsors. Says Jean-Louis Rheault a prominent contemporary pictorial map artist for Geografix. “The business has not changed one single bit since then!”

Some of the more notable names that produce quality pictorial maps today include Geografix Communications, Unique Media, Meridian Graphics, Travel graphics International, z-point graphics, Silicon Maps and a few others others.