Italy - Terracina, Lazio; BRAUN, Georg & HOGENBERG, Frans - Terracina - 1581-1600

BRAUN, Georg & HOGENBERG, Frans
Title: Terracina
From: Civitates Orbis Terrarum, edited by Abraham Ortelius
Place of publication: Colonia, 1578
Technique: Copper engraving (etching) aquatinted in a later period
Support: laid paper
Dimensions: cm 42 × 54 approximately
Conditions: Excellent, with a small professional repair to the verso at the upper corners

Description:
Rare and magnificent prospective view of the city of Terracina, created in 1578 by Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg, among the leading engravers and cartographers of the Renaissance. The work is drawn from the famous atlas Civitates Orbis Terrarum, compiled under the direction of Abraham Ortelius, considered the first true urban atlas in the world, and published in Colonia between 1572 and 1617.

The map is an extraordinary fusion of art and cartographic science, where architectural and landscape representation is rendered with great attention to detail. Terracina is depicted with buildings, walls, ports and surrounding hills, offering an unparalleled historical view of the urban layout of the time.

Hand-colored in a later period, with harmonious tones respecting the sixteenth-century models, the print remains with generous margins and is in excellent overall condition.

Notes: The Civitates Orbis Terrarum was conceived as a complement to Ortelius’s Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern atlas. The work documents urban topography of European and Mediterranean towns, becoming a primary source for the history of Renaissance urban planning and cartography.

A sought-after and perfect copy for collectors, scholars, and institutions.