Italy - Catania, Sicily; Vallardi - Pianta della città di Catania - 1861-1880

Technical sheet

Title: Plan of the city of Catania with the most recent innovations and upcoming projects.
Author: Fratelli Bonatti, with signature «Frat.i Bonatti dis.» in the lower left margin.
Engraver: P. Allodi e Figlio, with signature «P. Allodi e Figlio inc.» in the lower right margin.
Publisher: Doctor Francesco Vallardi, printer-publisher.
Place: Milan.
Period: second half of the 19th century, about 1870.
Technique: copper engraving with manual watercolor coloring, of undetermined date.
Support: paper.
Dimensions: sheet 42 × 60.5 cm. Engraved part 39.5 × 52.5 cm.
Scale: 1:6,575, with a graphic scale in meters.
Composition: single horizontal plate, with title at the top right, legend on the left side, and orientation indicator at the bottom right.
Represented area: Catania, eastern Sicily, Italy. The map includes the urban center, the Borgo quarter, the first slopes of Etna, the Ionian coastline, and the port area.

Description

Topographic map of Catania documenting the urban layout and the transformations underway in the second half of the 19th century. The drawing accurately reproduces the street grid and blocks, following the axis of Via Etnea from Piazza del Duomo to Piazza del Borgo. The Bellini Garden, the Benedettini complex, and Ursino Castle emerge from the built fabric due to the recognizability of their plans.
The legend, titled «Public offices, public buildings and notable antiquities», identifies civil offices, educational institutions, churches, and major monuments. Among the archaeological witnesses are the amphitheatre and the ancient theatre, both recognizable in their plan forms.
Along the seafront, the Old Port, the Darsena (dock), the Old Pier, and the New Port of Catania are distinguished. The railway line along the coast, with indications of the “Temporary Station” and the line to Messina, documents the integration of the railway into the urban landscape. In the peripheral areas, hatchings distinguish crops and lava lands. The watercolor facilitates reading the map with reddish-brown for the blocks, green for gardens and crops, and blue for the waters.

Historical-artistic note

The signatures distinguish the topographic drawing, entrusted to the Fratelli Bonatti, from the engraving, executed by P. Allodi e Figlio. Published in Milan by Francesco Vallardi, the plate documents Catania in the early decades after Italian unification through the coexistence of ancient monuments, city institutions, and new infrastructures. The subtitle expressly recalls both the transformations already realized and the projects to be implemented, an element of particular interest for the urban history of the city.

Condition Report

Good overall preservation state. Slight yellowing of the paper, more evident at the margins, with sporadic small brown stains and light warping of the support. Margins preserved, with slight irregularities at the edges. Engraving clear and coloring readable. Blank verso, with slight tonal variations and sporadic stains.