Italy - Venice; Anonimo / derivazione dalla pianta di Marco Sebastiano Giampiccoli - Plan von Venedig - 1781-1800

Technical data

Title: Plan von Venedig. Plan of Venice. Topographic map of Venice, with Giudecca and the island of San Giorgio Maggiore.
Author / Cartographer / Engraver: anonymous engraver of a Germanophone milieu; derived from the map by Marco Sebastiano Giampiccoli published in 1779.
Place: presumably German-speaking area; place of publication not identified.
Era: circa 1780–1790.
Technique: copperplate engrav­ing on copper with burin, with manual period coloration not contemporary.
Support: paper.
Dimensions: sheet 24.5 x 33 cm - engraved part 22.1 × 31.5 cm.
Composition: single horizontal plate, with urban plan, perimeter topographic legends, title on a band, Winged Lion of Saint Mark, compass rose and graphic scale in Venetian measures. White verso.

Description

eighteenth-century topographic plan of Venice, engraved on copper and hand-colored, with a detailed representation of the urban fabric, the canals and the Giudecca and San Giorgio Maggiore islands.
The Grand Canal traverses the composition with its characteristic sinuous course, separating the built-up areas and making the city’s structure immediately recognizable. The blocks, parcels, major religious complexes, orchards and gardens are delineated, as well as the extensive Arsenal precinct in the eastern part.
An articulated system of numeric and alphabetic references connects the map to the legends arranged along the margins, dedicated to the sestieri and religious buildings. Italian toponymy accompanies the title and the German explanatory note, elements that indicate a destination also for German-speaking travelers. The note clarifies the graphical conventions used to distinguish churches and to indicate canal crossings.
In the upper part, the Plan von Venedig title appears on a draped ribbon, beside the Winged Lion of Saint Mark with the open book. A compass rose in the harbor facing the city and the graphic scale at the lower left complete the cartographic apparatus.
Manual coloring distinguishes built-up sectors in red, cultivated spaces and gardens in green, and water surfaces in blue, giving the plate clear topographic legibility and a lively decorative presence.

Historical-artistic note

The plate reprises the map published by Marco Sebastiano Giampiccoli in 1779, rendering part of its explanatory apparatus for a German-speaking audience. The match in format and legends allows linking it to this specific derivation, keeping anonymous the responsibility for the engraving and the edition.
The work fits into the production of urban plans intended for the knowledge and visitation of Venice during the last decades of the Republic. The emphasis given to churches and the division of the sestieri document the role of religious buildings as fundamental reference points for city orientation, while the Winged Lion preserves its function as political emblem and identity of the Serenissima.

Condition Report

Copy with reduced margins, present beyond the engraved border. Vertical and horizontal folds from folding, with slight signs of wear at the intersections. Paper slightly yellowed, with small foxing and browning mainly along the edges. Slight waviness of the support and modest marginal irregularities. Engraving sharp and legible; coloring vivid. White verso, with light color alterations and traces of creases.