TRANSLATION OF CARTOUCHE TEXT BOTTOM LEFT: The new city of Palma, built by Venice in Friuli at the mouth of the Adriatic Sea as protection against attacks by barbarians.

CARTOUCHE BOTTOM RIGHT: The city has 9 bulwarks, each 200 paces apart. Streets run around them to reinforce the front line. The moats encircling these are 30 paces wide an 12 deep. There are 3 gates and 9 squares. From the bulwarks, streets lead into the centre, where a heavily fortified tower stands as a place of refuge. The whole site has a diameter of 600 paces.

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Outline of the city of Palmanova, which was built by the Venetians in Friuli at the mouth of the sea. Previously the Italians suffered great harm, for the barbarian peoples ravaged this province, and the Turks also threatened the surrounding towns with daily rape and pillage, something that will not be so easy for them in future. The city has nine new bulwarks, each 200 paces apart; the streets are round and wide, and the walls can today be well defended. The streets lead directly from the bulwarks to a centre, where there is a mighty tower, from where the whole city can be defended."

The bird's-eye view is the optimum perspective from which to present the fortified city of Palmanova to the viewer. Designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi, the star-shaped fort on the Venetian border was laid out as late as 1593 and is one of the few Renaissance examples of an ideal city. The primary goal of the Venetian government was to create a bulwark against the Turks, who had raided Friuli seven times between 1470 and 1499. The fortifications were extended in the 17th century, when Palmanova lay on the border with the Habsburg Empire, and again in the 19th century by Napoleon. The city's star-shaped plan is clearly visible even today. The draughtsman has evidently introduced a number of figures into the city to "soften" its strict geometric shape. (Taschen)

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.