Allegorical Maps of Love, Courtship, and Matrimony

George Skaife Beeching’s Map of Matrimony, ca. 1880 — Source.

Allegorical maps existed for many years before becoming more popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Many of these were political but some playful examples exist that chart the highs and lows of love, courtship, and marriage. François Chauveau’s Carte de tendre, an allegorical map of the stages of love created for Madeleine de Scudéry's novel Clélie (1654-61), was perhaps the first of these. Following the River of Inclination from the town of Nouvelle Amitié (New Friendship) to Tendre (Love) one encounters many obstacles, including the Lac D’Indiference (Lake of Indifference).

François Chauveau’s La Carte de Tendre, 1654 source

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