Engraving
Collection

With the invention of printing, around the middle of the 15th century, the ways in which the images of texts could be reproduced were simultaneously sought. The first illustrations were made with woodcuts, i.e. engraving images on a wooden plate and reproducing similar copies on paper. Woodcuts were succeeded by copperplate engraving, whose technique allowed for a more faithful rendering of details, as well as of chiaroscuro, thus creating richer, more painterly results. In the 19th century, a new technique was created, lithography, an accidental discovery of Alois Senefelder, which contributed to an even more faithful representation of the subject.
The oldest Maps and Portolans (nautical charts) come from the successive editions of the famous “Geography”, which was based on the book of Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria, which was first published in 1477 in Bologna and reprinted 27 times until 1730.
The contribution of the Netherlands to the development of cartography is significant, since from the 16th century until the 18th century the Dutch were the undisputed seafarers. The first Dutch cartographers Gerhard Mercator (1512 – 1594) and Abraham Ortelius (1528 – 1598) worked in the 16th century, laying the foundations of cartographic science, which aimed to transmit important practical knowledge to sailors, soldiers, travelers and scientists.