The new exhibition at the American Museum & Gardens is the first major display of the American Museum’s world-renowned map collection in over a decade, reframing the way the maps have historically been shown.
The American Museum & Gardens is presenting one of the finest collections of Renaissance maps in the world in a new special exhibition for 2025. Opening on 15 February, Myths and Memories: Renaissance Maps brings one of Bath’s most celebrated museum collections back into the spotlight, for a must-see show this spring. This exhibition will launch the museum’s exciting year of exploration, which will feature special exhibitions and events, including a pop-up planetarium, stargazing, a thrilling space exhibition, and seasonal family trails such as the Map Explorers garden trail for February half term.
Myths and Memories is the first major display of the American Museum’s world-renowned collection in over a decade, reframing the way the maps have historically been shown. On display is the incredible power, beauty and history of Renaissance maps, with a fascinating new exploration of the myths and memories that created them.
American Museum founder Dr Dallas Pratt began collecting historical maps as a teenager, drawn by the brightly coloured, intricate illustrations. Thinking only of the decorative qualities of these pieces, he had no idea that his first impulse purchase would lead to over 60 years of collecting. Dr Pratt eventually amassed a collection of hundreds of maps, seeking out rare and fine examples throughout his life. In 1988 Dr Pratt presented his 200 maps to the museum – one of the greatest Renaissance map collections in the world, recording European artistry, knowledge and discovery.
The Renaissance maps in the American Museum’s collection were created during the mid-15th to early-17th centuries, a time when European explorers were seeking out new trade routes around the world and first encountered the land we now call America. Some of the earliest maps on display are medieval examples of zonal maps, including the first printed T-O map (a diagrammatic representation of an area of land or sea showing physical features). Pratt’s favourite map, a world map by Haci Ahmed, is one of only 10 known copies. One of the most recognisable maps to visitors, is Abraham Ortelius’ World Map. Ortelius was one of the most successful Renaissance mapmakers and his popularity helped to make this world view one of the most enduring. Often cited by collectors as ‘one of the biggest cartographic mysteries’, the Fool’s Head map by an unknown maker shows the world in place of a jester’s face. For the first time, this exhibition considers the connection between this map and the Ship of Fools allegory that was popular at the time.
Previously, the maps have been presented as documents that tell the story of European ‘discovery’ during the colonial Age of Exploration. In Myths and Memories: Renaissance Maps, the exhibition revisits this Eurocentric narrative, making space for Indigenous viewpoints and a wider range of perspectives on the creation and impact of the maps. Through this broader lens, the intriguing question arises – how have these special maps shaped our collective history and memory?
Stepping into the Exhibition Gallery at the American Museum & Gardens, visitors can explore the stunning artistry of these rarely seen maps up close and find out more about their origins and purpose. For Chief Curator, Kate Hebert, it was important to share the complexity of the maps, and consider what the maps represent and their impact on the world from a range of perspectives: “Renaissance maps contain a convergence of knowledges. From medieval beliefs to Classical revival, Christian tales and Islamic influences, they illustrate the building and borrowing of ideas. Few maps displayed in the exhibition were intended as tools of navigation. Instead, they were visual aids to understanding the world and one’s place within it. They reflect European aesthetic conventions, religious and moral philosophies, and scientific developments of the time. Mappaemundi, and other Medieval maps of the Christian world, illustrate world views – not in a geographical sense, but they represent beliefs. They literally map knowledge.”
Including Indigenous perspectives is key to the new exhibition’s curation. Kate explains why: “Indigenous memories were co-opted into European memory through maps; shared through reproductions of conversations, accounts, and of Indigenous maps themselves, and even taken from recounted tales on ships. These permeated into Renaissance Europe’s expanding understanding of the American continent, its people and landscapes, and were woven into its maps. Many shapes, forms, and motifs found in Renaissance maps survive on maps today, demonstrating their lasting legacy.”
Counter Mapping, a short film about the remapping of native land, courtesy of Emergence Magazine, brings the exhibition up to the present day. In the film, Jim Enote, a traditional Zuni farmer and director of the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center in New Mexico, shares his work with Zuni artists creating maps that bring an Indigenous voice and perspective back to the land, countering Western notions of place and geography and challenging the arbitrary borders imposed on the Zuni world.
Myths and Memories: Renaissance Maps, 15 February – 22 June. Opening from half term, the Map Explorers garden trail launches the museum’s year celebrating exploration. americanmuseum.org