Art News

Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art at the British Library

The largest atlas in the world, a 1660 'The Klencke Atlas' by Johan Maurits on display in an exhibition Magnificent Maps at the British Library in London, The atlas, with forty one large wall maps, at almost six feet tall was presented by the Amsterdam merchant Johannes Klencke to Charles II of England on his restoration to the throne in 1660. -  AP Photo Sang Tan

LONDON.- Maps can be works of art,
propaganda and
indoctrination. Opening on 30 April 2010, “Magnificent Maps: Power,
Propaganda
and Art” offers a rare chance to see an unrivalled collection of
cartographic
masterpieces on paper, wood, vellum, silver, silk and marble, including
atlases,
maps, globes and tapestries that were intended for display side-by-side
with the
world’s greatest paintings and sculptures.
The exhibition
coincides
with two BBC Four series about maps broadcast this April. Peter Barber
was
series consultant for Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession and The Beauty
of Maps
which featured maps held in the British Library.