This striking woodcut map was first published in

Acquired From: Leen Helmink

Colouring: Coloured

Condition: Excellent

Confirmed: Yes

Date Acquired: Dec 2025

Dealers ID No.: 19691

Description: This striking woodcut map was first published in 1529 in Martin Luthers commentary on the Book of Daniel and ranks among the earliest Protestant world maps. Commonly known as the Wittenberg World Map or Daniels Dream Map, it visualizes the prophetic vision described in Daniel 7, in which four beasts rise from the sea under the influence of the four winds. Although traditionally associated with Luther, the map was engraved by an anonymous woodcutter working within the Wittenberg printing milieu, under the theological direction of Luther and his circle, and published by Hans Lufft.At the time of its first appearancewhen it stood as the sixty-first world map to enter printthe image functioned on two levels: as a depiction of the Old World informed by the Ptolemaic tradition and recent Iberian discoveries, and as a visual interpretation of the prophet Daniels apocalyptic vision of the four kingdoms. The beasts correspond to successive world empires and are distributed across the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The lion, symbolizing Babylon, signifies imperial authority; the bear, associated with the Medo-Persian Empire, conveys strength and conquest; the leopard, linked to the empire of Alexander the Great, expresses speed and expansion; and the fourth, unnamed beast embodies the Roman Empire and, in Reformation interpretation, the persistence of corrupt worldly power.nFor theologians in Wittenberg, this imagery carried immediate contemporary meaning. The vision was widely interpreted as foreshadowing the Ottoman victory at the Battle of Mohács in 1526, an event that deeply unsettled Christian Europe and reinforced apocalyptic readings of history. In this context, the map functioned not merely as a geographic image but as a theological commentary on current events.nDespite its symbolic intent, the map incorporates contemporary geographic knowledge, including Martin Waldseemüllers influential Dragons Tail depiction of Southeast Asia. It thus unites biblical prophecy with early sixteenth-century cartographic thought, presenting the world as both a physical and spiritual landscape shaped by divine order.nPrinted by Hans Lufft, Luthers principal publisher, the map was later reused in related theological works. It remains one of the most powerful visual expressions of Reformation thought, demonstrating how early modern maps served not only as instruments of geography, but as vehicles for faith, prophecy, and historical interpretation.

Engraver: Anonymous

First published: Martin Luther, Der Prophet Daniel, Wittenberg: Hans Lufft, 1529

Image Size (cm): 11.8×15.2

Mapmaker: Anonymous

Primary Category: World

Rarity: R1 Extremely rare – occasionally seen on the market

Shirley ID #: 65 Mapping the World

Technique: Woodcut

This state: Second