Slide #205I
TITLE: The Beatus Maps: Paris III
DATE: ca. 776 A.D.
AUTHOR: Beatus of Liebana (died 798)
DESCRIPTION: The map now known as the Paris III Beatus map
presents a very different approach that is confusing when compared with
the other derivatives. Dated approximately 1050 A.D., the style is somewhat
unique, and it places Palestine in the interior of Africa and southern Italy
next to Jerusalem. A major departure from the other Beatus copies the Paris
III places South at the top, vice East on all the others, suggesting
an Arabic influence. It makes this substitution with such inconsistency,
in regard to other parts of the map, that it is clear that the copyist is
departing from his original. Paradise is placed in the extreme East,
not on an isle as in many other designs, but on the mainland following Isidore
of Seville, encircled by unscalable mountains, and accompanied by pictures
of either Adam and Eve or of the Four Sacred Rivers (the Pison, Gihon,
Hiddekel, and Euphrates ). Yet, like the Osma map the
Paris III represents the Skiapodes, or Shadow-footed men, of
the Southern Continent. The principle towns, represented by drawings of
castles and cathedrals, dominate the map's appearance. The traditional fish
'swim' the oceans, without the appearance of boats, 29 islands are displayed.
** see also Slide #207 Monograph**