Italy - Piedmont, Ivrea, Chivasso, Verrua; Dheulland et Julien - Environs d’Ivrée, Chivas, et Verrue - 1748

Technical sheet

Title: Environs d’Ivrée, Chivas, et Verrue.
Author: Guillaume Dheulland and Roch-Joseph Julien.
Engraver: not signed.
Publisher: Guillaume Dheulland and Roch-Joseph Julien.
Place: Paris.
Period: 1748.
Technique: copper-plate engraving on copper, executed with etching and engraving, with manual coloring applied afterwards.
Support: laid paper.
Dimensions: sheet about 26 × 35 cm; print impression about 23 × 31 cm.
Composition: single plate, number 10, with a central vertical editorial fold.
Regions and States depicted: Northwestern Italy, Piedmont; Canavese, Turin area, western sector of the Vercellese and a portion of northern Monferrat. Ivrea, Chivasso, Verrua, Santhià, Crescentino, Turin and numerous smaller centers are included, with the valleys of Orco, Soana and Lanzo, the lower course of the Dora Baltea and a stretch of the Po.
Inscriptions: French title in the upper margin; number “No. 10” at the top right; scales in Italian miles and French leagues; indication “Avec Privilege du Roy” at the bottom left.
Back: white, with paper residues along the central fold attributable to the previous binding.

Description

Eighteenth-century geographic map dedicated to the territories of Ivrea, Chivasso and Verrua, with a wide representation of Canavese and the areas between the first Alpine valleys, Turin and northern Monferrat. The territory is described through a dense network of inhabited centers, waterways, reliefs and wooded areas, with toponymy predominantly Italianized or adapted to the French language.
The composition emphasizes the transition from mountainous valleys to the plain crossed by the Dora Baltea and the Po. Notable are Ivrea, Pont Canavese, Cuorgnè, Castellamonte, Valperga, Rivarolo, Caluso, Chivasso, Santhià and Crescentino, while Turin appears in the lower left sector. The lake of Viverone and the lake basins of the Candia area are also represented.
The reliefs are rendered with dense hatching describing slopes and ridges; the main settlements show small urban silhouettes or fortified perimeters. The coloring emphasizes territorial delimitations, accompanies the waterways and highlights the mountainous morphology. The title, arranged linearly above the map, and the two metric scales give the plate a sober, functional layout, consistent with its topographic character.

Historical-artistic note

The map belongs to the French geographic production of the mid-18th century devoted to Italian territories. Piedmont held particular interest for its strategic position of Alpine accesses, fortresses and the routes of communication between France and Italy.
The focus on hydrography, relief and fortified settlements makes the plate a testimony of the eighteenth-century reading of the Sardinian (Savoy) territory. The representation also allows tracing the historical distribution of Canavese centers and their relationship with the Alpine valleys and the Po plain.

Condition Report

An exemplar in good overall conservation, with a clear impression and well-preserved coloring. Central vertical editorial fold, accompanied by slight waviness and additional folds in the paper. Mild browning, sporadic foxing spots and small signs of handling, more noticeable on the verso. Margins present beyond the plate’s edge, but tighter near the inscriptions on the upper and lower edges. On the verso, white, paper residues and traces of the previous binding along the central fold remain.