Joseph Bellemans, Belgian
“Okay, I Figure It Should Take About 2 Months, 5 Days, and 1 Hour To Sail To the New World. So Why Does Google Maps Say 56 Minutes? Let Me Try This Again,” 1870
Oil on canvas
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As this states, the artist was born in 1810, not 1816 as listed by several other websites, including that one until 2024. He currently has no Wikipedia page in any language.
/// Two cartographers plan a projection
of the globe which preserves ship’s direction
on a flat atlas chart.
It’s part science, part art.
But Mercator’s map adds imperfection.
/// There is no perfect way for a sphere
to be flattened on paper, I fear.
Navigation works best
when there’s true East to West.
Too far North or South— warps will appear.
/// Abe Ortelius notes great distortions
in this map’s South and Northernmost portions.
Thus, to ignorant eyes,
Greenland seems a huge prize,
when, in fact, it has smaller proportions.
/// These cartographers make maps to scale
with attention to each small detail.
But, did they ever sail
to test whether they’d fail?
(Or if old flat-earth theories prevail.)