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tional elements
of (early) maps seem to be suitable (Bláha 2003); see be-
low for illustrative examples. The aesthetic values in cartographic works
have undergone relatively big changes throughout centuries. The changes
are related to the development of reproduction techniques and new proce-
dures, as well as a significant shift away from classical art because of cul-
tural and sociological changes and, thus, the classification of cartographic
products into the so called non-artistic aesthetic. The paper also touches
upon the context of computer-aided map creation - a topic that K. Kuchař
hardly could have met at his time - and expands his thoughts on the aes-
thetics of map production.
2- Of cartography and early maps as a form of art
K. Kuchař dedicated an extensive part of his lecture to the issue of
carto-
graphy as a form of art
. There is no doubt that he took inspiration for this
part from E. Imhof's talk in Amsterdam in 1967 and his paper
Die Kunst in
der Kartographie
published in the International Yearbook of Cartography
the same year (Imhof 1967). K. Kuchař notes that the term “art“ has vari-
ous meanings: skill, knowledge (“artisan“), or cartography as an artistic
activity and its products as works of art (“artist“). The artistic side of maps
was refle cted in the past; otherwise, maps would not contain decorative
elements, famous artists would not be asked to create them and maps
would not be subject to collectors' passion (Kuchař 1974, see also
Semotanová 2001).
This is even mentioned in one part of Imhof's paper. E. Imhof asks at the
beginning whether cartography has anything in common with art. He
believes that the development of woodcut, desktop printers, etc. led to the
evolution of graphical arts, while
at that time there was no expert speciali-
sation
, and an artist and a creator of maps was the very same person (similar
opinions can be found in R. Rees, 1980: “When science considered carto-
graphy, map creation and landscaping related activities they often were
performed by the same person“) - maps created by Leonardo da Vinci,
Albrecht Dürer or Jose Murero can serve as examples. The artistic charac-
ter of early maps is supported by figurative representation on the map
edges, decorative frames, decoration of all compositional elements in the
map (see below). Well-known atlases from the 16th to 18th century
(Mercator, Ortellius, Blaeu, Sanson, Hondius) offer examples of this artistic
decoration. Early maps were intended to decorate walls (Imhof 1967).
