Groundbreakers

Remarkable maps and atlases reveal the rich history of cartography in the Low Countries.

As well as showing a particular region and historical situation, an old map endlessly provokes new questions. In Groundbreakers, map historian Anne-Rieke van Schaik delves into the stories behind various maps, prints, atlases, globes and instruments from the Phoebus Foundation's world-famous collection. The objects tell of the glory days of the history of cartography, but also of darker matters, from the struggle against flooding and the Eighty Years' War to colonial expansion and the Belgian struggle for independence. Well-known mapmakers such as Gerard Mercator, Abraham Ortelius and Joan Blaeu are featured in addition to numerous anonymous surveyors and cartographers.

Groundbreakers invites us to discover and question the history of cartography in the Netherlands, in order to explore and expand the horizons of our own world.