Italy - Milan; N. De Fer - Milan, ville des plus grandes... - 1703

Technical data

Title: Milan, ville des plus grandes, des plus riches, et des plus fortes d’Italie; accompanied by a Description of Milan.
Author: Nicolas de Fer (c. 1646–1720), cartographer and publisher.
Draftsman: not indicated; engraving by Charles Inselin, signed “C. Inselin sculp.”.
Publisher: Nicolas de Fer, at the sign of the Royal Sphere.
Place: Paris.
Period: 1703, date incised on the map.
Technique: copper-engraved plate on hammered copper with hand coloring of the map; descriptive sheet with copper-engraved text.
Support: paper.
Dimensions: map sheet 41.5 × 26.5 cm; engraving 22.5 × 33.5 cm.
Composition: set of two separate sheets, including the colored map of Milan and the corresponding descriptive sheet in French, both marked with number 81.
Territory represented: Milan, Lombardy, Italy; at the time capital of the Duchy of Milan under Spanish rule.
Original work: From L’Atlas curieux, ou le Monde représenté dans des cartes générales et particulières du ciel et de la terre, Paris, Nicolas de Fer.

Description

Topographic map of Milan published by Nicolas de Fer in 1703 and engraved by Charles Inselin, accompanied by the original descriptive sheet in French. The representation documents the city within its bastioned walls, outlining the block pattern, main routes of communication, canals and defensive structures. The Sforza Castle is recognizable, with its articulated fortified system, the Cathedral in the heart of the town, and the large enclosure of the Lazaretto, located outside the walls. A rich numbered legend, arranged along the left margin and continued in a lower inset, identifies 140 buildings and city sites, with particular attention to churches, convents and charitable institutions. The hand coloring distinguishes the blocks in red, the waters in blue, and the fortifications in yellow, on a pale green background. The title is enclosed in a parchment-shaped cartouche, while the publisher’s address and the date appear at the bottom. The Description de Milan sheet supplements the map with information on the city’s history, monuments, religious institutions and economic activities. The common numbering 81 preserves the editorial link between the two elements.

Historical-artistic note

Nicolas de Fer was an important figure in French cartographic publishing between the late 17th and early 18th centuries. His Atlas curieux brought together geographical maps, city plans, views and descriptions, offering a view of territories that combined geographical knowledge, history and interest in monuments. The Milan map testifies to the city’s arrangement at the beginning of the 18th century, still characterized by Spanish fortifications and the dense network of religious buildings. The presence of the descriptive sheet constitutes a qualifying element of the set, maintaining the original relationship between cartographic representation and historical commentary.

Condition Report

Map with slight yellowing of the paper, faint marginal browning and scattered small foxing. Light waviness and handling creases of the support. Engraving clearly legible; on the verso, with no printed text, there are reddish traces corresponding to some colored areas of the recto. Descriptive sheet with wide margins, slight creases, small oxidation spots and a faint linear trace in the lower margin near the fold.