The depiction of the World is surrounded by the figures of Shem, Japhet and Ham, and the sons of Noah, who re-populated the Earth after the Flood. Schedel's World map is based upon Ptolemy, omitting Scandinavia, southern Africa and the Far East, and depicting the Indian Ocean as landlocked. Also on the map is the familiar decorative motif of the twelve wind-heads that is found on many early printed world maps. The inclusion of illustrations of Japhet, Shem, and Ham (the sons of Noah who re-populated the earth after the Flood) in the corners suggests the theology-centered medieval view of the world. Many medieval notions are nevertheless incorporated: the Indian Ocean is shown in its land-locked, pre-discovery state, for example. The general contours of the map primarily show the influence of the most important geographical work of antiquity, Ptolemy's Geographia, which had been forgotten during the Middle Ages.
This helps to explain the ease with which Europeans were able to demonize indigenous peoples they encountered in the New World. The engraving also reveals the medieval attitude toward peoples of distant lands through the grotesque creatures found on both sides these creatures were believed to inhabit unexplored areas. Published just 40 years after the invention of printing, Schedel's map presents the world as seen just prior to Columbus' voyage and the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope by Dias.
Schedel's map is one of the earliest obtainable World maps, and one of the most visually evocative of its period.
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