Map of Iceland with sea monsters

The artwork

Below the Westman Islands, at the bottom of the map, the monster with the curved beak and tusks bears the letter L: according to the atlas, it is a tame whale that protects the fishermen from the others. You receive it printed on handmade Amalfi paper, with a handmade frame.

In the text, printed on the back of the map, it is called Steipereidur: it is at least a hundred cubits long and a proclamation forbids harming it. Today steypireyður, in Icelandic, is the name of the blue whale, the largest animal that has ever existed. And in the seventeenth century, the Icelandic poet and scholar Jón Guðmundsson called it “the best and holiest of all whales,” and advised anyone in danger from the other whales to stay as close to it as possible.

The “Iceland” map was published in Antwerp by Abraham Ortelius, the author of Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, considered the first modern atlas: at the top left is his 1585 privilege, and the map entered the atlas in 1590. The dedication at the bottom right, to King Frederick II of Denmark, bears the name of the Danish historian Anders Sørensen Vedel, while the drawing of the island is traced back to the Icelandic bishop Guðbrandur Þorláksson. Among the other letters is A, the narwhal, whose tusk was sold as a unicorn horn. This print comes from Theatro del mondo, the Italian edition printed in Antwerp in 1608, and is preserved in the David Rumsey Map Collection.

It is the gift for those who have returned from Iceland with the desire to leave again, and for the children who go hunting for dragons on maps: it looks good in a bedroom or in a study, above the desk. Down there at the bottom, the whale with the L continues to stand guard over the fishermen.

Unique quality material

Print on handmade Amalfi paper
Sheet size: 40 x 60 cm
With frame: 42 x 62 cm
Material: artwork printed on the finest handmade Amalfi paper with deckle edges
Frame: dark brown with gold fillet, handmade, with glass