With the Spertus Museum‘s recent “censorship” of its exhibit of Holy Land maps, it is especially nice to see that famous (and autistic) artist Stephen Wiltshire has drawn Jerusalem.
One blog says Wiltshire also wants to draw Tel Aviv, and quotes: “Jerusalem was the hardest city I’ve ever encountered to draw. There are many tiny details that are without architectural order or reason.”
This is part of a larger tradition of Holy Land mapping, that includes Bünting’s 1581 clover-leaf Jerusalem, famous for casting the city as the center of the world. Other artists have included New and Old Testament scenes or the “Templum Salomonis” (like von Breydenbach does) in their maps, juxtaposing the old and the new.
Wiltshire’s is surely more helpful for tourists than Bünting’s symbolic map, but the clover does show how artists tend to create the Holy Land in their own image, which is perhaps where Spertus encountered its troubles. Kudos to Wiltshire for creating a non-partisan view.
See Wiltshire draw Rome in this YouTube video.
[Photo from Daylife.com]
