Antique map of Namur by Braun and Hogenberg 1575-1612
Namurcum, preclara ad Mosae flumen civitas, ...
Item Number: 18020 Authenticity Guarantee
Category: Antique maps > Europe > Belgium
Antique map - bird's-eye view of Namur by Braun and Hogenberg.
TRANSLATION OF CARTOUCHE TEXT: Namur, famous city on the Meuse, drawn true to nature and included as an adornment in our geographical work, the plate of which was kindly provided by the reverend and most erudite gentlemand D. Arnoldus Masius, professor of Sacred Theology and venerable canon in Namur, of great academic merit. In the year 1575.
COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "The County of Namur is a very mountainous province, but good for farming and very beautiful. In the mountains there is iron and also a very beautiful black, red and multi-coloured marble, but also another kind of stone, which is used for sculptures. The Meuse and the Sambre are two rivers that join together here and make this an important city. But Namur is also the name of the capital with its own bishopric."
Namur is shown from the northeast as a low bird's-eye view, so that the castle that lies a little distance away on a hill over the Meuse appears in side view. The perspective allows the reader a good insight into the arrangement of the medieval town. In the middle of the town is the oldest church, the late Gothic parish church of Saint -Jean-Baptiste, with a high tower that is taller than all the other buildings in the town. The bell tower directly to the left of the parish church was replaced in the 18th century by the Tour Saint-Jacques. The Neoclassical cathedral of Saint-Aubin was also built in the 18th century, but includes the Gothic tower of a building that previously occupied the site, which can be seen to the right of the tower of Saint-Jean-Baptiste's church. (Taschen)
Copper engraving
Size: 37 x 50cm (14.4 x 19.5 inches)
Verso text: Latin
Condition: Old coloured.
References: Van der Krogt 4, 2947, State 1; Taschen, Braun and Hogenberg, p. 153.
From: Civitates Orbis Terrarum, ... Part 2. Köln, 1575-1612.