TRANSLATION OF CARTOUCHE TEXT: Mantua famous and very old Lombardian city on the Po's far side, built in the middle of a marshland lake. Drawn true to life in the year of our Lord 1575.

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Mantua lies in the middle of a stagnant lake and is therefore very easy to defend. It is very big and has fine, beautiful houses, among which the house of Andrea Mantegna is not the worst, for it is decorated with all kinds of artistic pictures. There are seven painted plaques on which the emperor's triumph is painted in such a masterly and skilful fashion that it could easily be taken for a work by Apelles."

The engraving shows a bird's-eye view of a city in the middle of a lake. In the background, flat land can be seen, behind which appear the Alps. The city is linked to the mainland by bridges and dams. Mantua was founded by the Etruscans in the 6th century BC and named after Mantus, their god of the underworld. In Roman times, the city's most famous inhabitant, Virgil, was born here in 70 BC. After the end of the Roman era, Mantua had various rulers during the migration period. From 1328 to 1708, the Gonzaga family ruled Mantua. Their residence was the Palazzo Ducale, seen in the engraving directly to the right of the San Giorgio bridge (Pont de S. Iorgio). The Camera degli Sposi was decorated with frescos by Andrea Mantegna, one of the most important painters and engravers of the early Italian Renaissance. (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.