Design
To Navigate Love, French Intellectuals Mapped It
Starting in the 17th century, allegorical maps became a way of talking about relationships, from the Castle of Cuckoldry to the Abyss of Despair.
Relationships can be hard to navigate, so French people in the mid-17th century found a way to cope: They mapped them.
“Cartes galantes,” or “gallant maps,” are a type of allegorical mapping. Authors of allegorical maps use commonly known topographic elements to represent feelings and ideas. Oceans and land masses are given witty labels such as “Sea of Enmity,” or “Castle in the Air,” an expression that refers to an idea unlikely to be realized.