Theme Maps (Fanta "Z")
These maps are not layered with data in the thematic map sense; rather, they use fictional geography and/or shape to illustrate or symbolize themes.
[Left] Famiano Strada, 1572–1649. “Novus XVII. inferioris Germaniæ provinciarum” (1653). Copperplate map, with added color, 18 × 13 cm [Historic Maps Collection]. From his De bello Belgico, novissima ed. (Rome: Apud Hermannum Scheus, 1653).
One of a number of versions of a map of the Low Countries in the form of a heraldic lion. The idea began in 1583 during the Dutch War of Independence (or Eighty Years’ War, 1568–1648), when the “seventeen provinces”—the current Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, northern France, and a small part of western Germany—revolted against Spain. The symbol of the lion derives from the coats of arms of several of the provinces.