It is the Beatus map, one of the most important cartographic works of the Early Middle Ages (8th century). It was first drawn by the Spanish monk Beatus of Liébana. Although the original manuscript is lost, there remain several copies, which retain a high fidelity with respect the original (as the one in Saint Sever).
The Map is shown in the prologue of the second book of Beatus' work Commentary on the Apocalypse. Its main goal is to illustrate the primitive Diaspora of the Apostles.
In this mappa mundi, the world is represented as a circular disc surrounded by the Ocean. The Earth is divided in three continents: Asia (upper semicircle), Africa (right lower quadrant) and Europe (left lower quadrant). The continents are separated by water streams and inner seas, including the Mediterranean Sea (Europe-Africa), the River Nile (Africa-Asia), the Bosporus, and the Aegeus Sea (Europe-Asia). In the center of the world lies Jerusalem, sacred to both Christianity and Judaism.
As an art style is difficult to say.. but the original (lost) because of the date it was prerromanesque.
