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Item Number:  8461 Authenticity Guarantee

Category:  Antique maps > Europe > Italy

Bird's-eye view of Mantova.

TRANSLATION OF CARTOUCHE TEXT: Mantua, famous and very old Lombardian city, situated on the far side of the Po, 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 and there are seven painted plaques on which the triumph of the emperor 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, which can be 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)

Copper engraving
Size: 50 x 36cm (20 x 14 inches)
Verso text: Latin
Condition: Old coloured, slight browning at centrefold.

From: Civitates Orbis Terrarum, ... Part 2. Köln, 1575-1612.