The Kingdom of Heaven

The calligraphed ‘sic transit gloria mundi’ is an obvious clue. But we’ll have to dig deeper to figure out the meaning behind the map.

The folded-over piece on the bottom right, exactly at the centre of the trompe-l’oeil, shows the back of the map, but shining through it we can see the Strait of Gibraltar - also known as the Pillars of Hercules. According to the folklore, on those pillars were written the words ‘NON PLUS ULTRA’ (no further). Later, they were allegedly changed to ‘PLUS ULTRA PETO TERTIA REGNA’ (Further! I strive for a third domain), which was believed to refer to the Kingdom of Heaven.