If you look at maps created during the 1500s and 1600s, one thing quickly stands out: very little space was left empty.
Oceans were crowded with sailing ships, sea monsters, compass roses, and mythical creatures. Borders were wrapped in decorative patterns and elaborate cartouches. Even regions that were only partially understood were often filled with illustrations, text, or symbolic imagery.
To modern eyes, these maps can feel visually overwhelming. But this dense style reflected a broader artistic and cultural tendency known as horror vacui.
What is Horror Vacui?
Cartographers during this time seem to be specially afflicted with what some art historians called “Horror Vacui”.
Horror vacui is a Latin phrase meaning “fear of empty space.” In art and design, it refers to the tendency to fill every available surface with detail, ornamentation, or imagery rather than leaving blank areas exposed.
The concept is also related to the term kenophobia, derived from the Greek words for “empty” and “fear.”
In cartography, horror vacui helps explain why maps from this period were often so densely illustrated. Empty areas of ocean or unexplored land were treated not as blank space to preserve, but as opportunities for decoration, storytelling, symbolism, or information.
Why were 16th and 17th century maps filled with so much detail?
Historians have proposed several reasons why European cartographers avoided empty space.
One explanation is practical: decorative imagery helped conceal gaps in geographic knowledge. Large blank regions on a map could emphasize uncertainty or incomplete exploration, while illustrations created the impression of a more complete and authoritative work.
Another reason was artistic and commercial. Maps during this period were often luxury objects commissioned by wealthy patrons, merchants, or rulers. Elaborate ornamentation increased both the visual appeal and perceived value of a map.
Maps also served as cultural documents. Sea monsters, ships, coats of arms, and mythical figures reflected how Europeans viewed exploration, trade, and distant parts of the world. In many cases, these illustrations blended geographic information with mythology and political symbolism.
A rare acknowledgment from a 16th century cartographer
Cartographic historian Chet Van Duzer has discussed horror vacui extensively in lectures and research on Renaissance-era maps.
Van Duzer notes that direct acknowledgments of this practice by cartographers themselves are surprisingly rare. One notable example comes from a 1592 world map by Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius. Plancius explained that he included a carefully researched celestial chart of the southern sky partly to fill otherwise empty space in the Southern Hemisphere.
That comment offers a rare glimpse into how mapmakers themselves thought about the visual balance of their work.
Maps as both geography and art
Today, many historical maps are appreciated as much for their artistry as for their geography. Horror vacui played a major role in shaping that visual style.
Rather than treating empty space as neutral, cartographers transformed nearly every part of the map into something decorative, symbolic, or narrative. The result was a form of cartography that blended science, art, mythology, and visual storytelling into a single image.
Read next: Here Be Dragons: The Facts and Fictions of Mapmakers
