A rare and absolutely mind-blowing photographic representation of Fra Mauro’s map of the world was part of the ‘Tales from the East’ exhibition curated by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA).

This monumental 223×223 cm photograph is a rendition of Mauro’s work by Italian photographer Carlo Naya, which renders the original map in its full, original size. Valued at € 280,000, the life-sized and hand-coloured work is titled ‘Mappa Mundi’, and was on public display in the region for the first time.

Naya (1816–82) was known for his fine captures of Venice, and worked on the Mappa Mundi photograph in 1871in Venice, under the supervision of Venice-based English historical scholar, Rawdon Brown.

Naya’s inspiration, Fra Mauro’s map, is considered a major cartographical work, and was made around 1450 for the rulers of Venice and Portugal, two of the main seafaring nations of the time.This awe-inspiring work is a clear reflection of the astounding level of development that art, history, cartography and photography were already witnessing during the medieval period.

Along with this fascinating medieval representation of what Google Earth looked like in the days before satellite imagery, the weeklong exhibition hosted rare artefacts worth over AED 60 million.