Italy - Ancona, Marche; Vallardi - Pianta della città e porto di Ancona - 1861-1880

Technical data

Title: Plan of the city and port of Ancona.
Author: Bonatti, engraver, signed in the lower right margin.
Publisher: Doctor Francesco Vallardi, printer and publisher.
Place: Milan.
Era: second half of the 19th century, about 1870.
Technique: copper engraving with manual watercolor coloring.
Support: paper.
Dimensions: sheet 42.5 × 60.5 cm; engraved portion 39.5 × 54.5 cm.
Composition: a single sheet, with the title at the top right and a numbered legend in the lower right corner. Scale 1:5,500.
Territory represented: city and port of Ancona with the immediate surroundings, Marche, Italy.
Origin of the work: Atlas geographicus Italiae, Milan, Francesco Vallardi.

Description

Topographic map of the city and port of Ancona, in the Marche, engraved by Bonatti and published in Milan by Francesco Vallardi in the second half of the 19th century. The map documents with notable detail the urban fabric, the harbor basin, and the defensive system of the Adriatic city, extending the depiction to the surrounding hills and suburban areas. The quayside, piers, the lighthouse and the pentagonal lazaretto, together with the Citadel, the Trench Field, the Fort of Cappuccini, the fortifications of Cardeto, and the Lunette of Santo Stefano, are recognizable. The soundings in the port accompany the urban description with hydrographic information, while the hatching conveys the relief. The manual coloring distinguishes built blocks in red, waters in blue, and areas outside the city in green and brown tones. The title, placed at the top right, is accompanied by the scale and the editorial indication; a numbered legend identifies the main buildings and localities. The whole constitutes a testimony to the urban, military, and port structure of Ancona in the postunitarian period.

Historical-artistic note

The map belongs to Francesco Vallardi’s cartographic production, a Milanese publisher active in the dissemination of atlases, territorial maps, and urban plans intended for study and consultation. The Atlas geographicus Italiae, published and updated in the second half of the 19th century, brought together representations of provinces and major Italian cities, addressing the interest in geographical and administrative knowledge of the national territory. The Ancona plate holds particular documentary relevance for the coexistence of the commercial port, railway infrastructure, and the vast fortified apparatus. Bonatti’s signature attests to the engraving execution, while Vallardi’s indication identifies editorial responsibility.

Condition Report

Paper with slight yellowing and marginal browning, more pronounced along the right edge and at the corners. Sparse small foxing and traces of surface deposition. Wrinkling of the support and handling folds, visible also on the reverse. Margins preserved, with irregularities, small tears, and localized abrasions restored. The engraved part generally legible, with preserved coloring. The reverse side free of printed text, with halos and light traces of dirt.