A Story To Tell: Seeing Through the Minds of Two Admirals
- Eda Ozyesilpinar -
Sense of Movement in the Reis Map
The Reis map also reveals a sense of movement through the visual depiction of ships, natives and animals of the Americas.
The Ships
Figure 16. A carrack (a kind of ship) from the Reis map
Soucek focuses on the ships Reis placed on his map. According to Soucek’s explanation, the Reis map includes the pictures of ten ships. All of the ships on the Reis map are located at different places on the Atlantic Ocean with a sense of moving to different directions such as to the islands of Central America or South America. Reis created this sense of movement with the specific details he used in his visual depiction of these ships. Underneath every ship, where it touches the water, Reis used a darker color to create the image of waves that occurred as a result of the movements of the ships on the water. By placing these ships at different locations with the emphasis on their directions and including the detail of waves to visually depict the ships’ movements on the water, Reis created the sense of movement in his map.
Figure 17. A caravel (a kind of shipp) from the Reis map
The Natives and animals
The ships are not the only pictures in the Reis map that created the sense of movement. The visual depiction of the natives of the Americas and different animals of the region also support the sense of movement in the Reis map. The natives depicted in the map are drawn in a way to reflect the sense of movement and action. They are all in action and create a movement for the audience. In addition to the natives, the animals depicted in the Reis map also implement the sense of moving. Reis pictured different kinds of animals such as birds, parrots, a giant fish, “oxen with one horn and also monsters in this shape” (Afetinan, 1954, p. 34; see Apnnedix A, note XXIII). These animals are also depicted in a way to create a sense of movement by drawing them in action. Reis strengthens the sense of movement of his map through the visual depiction of the natives and animals of the Americas he included in his map.
