CARTOUCHE: Bologna, the seat of the sciences.

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN (on verso): "As for the other famous buildings, the town hall of Bologna is uncontestedly one of the most splendid buildings in all of Europe when one considers its beauty and size alone, without taking its age into account, especially since it is built of fired brick. In addition, there are many patrician houses here, which are handsome beyond compare and are described by Leander in his history of Bologna, for which there is not enough space here to do justice to them in a few words. The city boasts many high towers, of which the above-mentioned Asinelli tower is one of the highest in Europe. [...] Bologna was also presented with a particular adornment by Theodosius II. After the city had been destroyed by his father, he rebuilt it in AD 433 and granted important privileges to the university there."

Fortified with moats and walls, the city is seen from the north in this high bird's-eye view. At the centre, family towers, of which there were 180 in the Middle Ages, can still be seen. The largest building on the Pïazza Maggiore is the Palazzo Comunale, with its three inner courtyards intermittently under construction from 1287. The massive principal church, San Petronio, appears above the right. The vast university complex is discernible in a 16th-century palazzo between two arterial streets. Settled in prehistoric times, Bologna was one of the most important Roman cities from the 2nd century BC. Power struggles in the Middle Ages between the leading patrician families had an adverse effect on the city, which was destroyed several times. From the early 12th century, Bologna was celebrated for its university and outstanding legal scholars. It rivalled Florence as a centre of humanism. (Taschen)

This plate is made after a copper engraving by Claudio Duchetti 1582.

Braun G. & Hogenberg F. and the Civitates Orbis Terrarum.

The Civitates Orbis Terrarum, or the "Braun & Hogenberg", is a six-volume town atlas and the greatest book of town views and plans ever published: 363 engravings, sometimes beautifully coloured. It was one of the best-selling works in the last quarter of the 16th century. Georg Braun wrote the text accompanying the plans and views on the verso. A large number of the plates were engraved after the original drawings of Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600), who was a professional artist. The first volume was published in Latin in 1572, and the sixth in 1617. Frans Hogenberg created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel created those for volumes V and VI. Other contributors were cartographers Daniel Freese and Heinrich Rantzau. Works by Jacob van Deventer, Sebastian Münster, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Translations appeared in German and French.

Following the original publication of Volume 1 of the Civitates in 1572, seven further editions of 1575, 1577, 1582, 1588, 1593, 1599 and 1612 can be identified. Vol.2, first issued in 1575, was followed by further editions in 1597 and in 1612. The next volumes appeared in 1581, 1588, 1593, 1599 and 1606. The German translation of the first volume appeared from 1574 on, and the French edition from 1575 on.

Several printers were involved: Theodor Graminaeus, Heinrich von Aich, Gottfried von Kempen, Johannis Sinniger, Bertram Buchholtz and Peter von Brachel, who all worked in Cologne.

Georg Braun (1541-1622)

Georg Braun was born in Cologne in 1541. After his studies in Cologne, he entered the Jesuit Order as a novice. In 1561 he obtained his bachelor's degree, and in 1562 his Magister Artium. Although he left the Jesuit Order, he studied theology, gaining a licentiate in theology.

Frans Hogenberg (1535-1590)

Frans Hogenberg was a Flemish and German painter, engraver, and mapmaker. He was born in Mechelen as the son of Nicolaas Hogenberg.

By the end of the 1560s, Frans Hogenberg was employed upon Abraham Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, published in 1570; he is named an engraver of numerous maps. In 1568 he was banned from Antwerp by the Duke of Alva and travelled to London, where he stayed a few years before emigrating to Cologne. He immediately embarked on his two most important works, the Civitates, published in 1572 and the Geschichtsblätter, which appeared in several series from 1569 until about 1587.

Thanks to large-scale projects like the Geschichtsblätter and the Civitates, Hogenberg's social circumstances improved with each passing year. He died as a wealthy man in Cologne in 1590.