Paesi Bassi / Francia - Arras / Atrecht; Braun - Hogenberg - ARRAS - 1601-1620

Splendid 16th/17th-century perspective view of the fortified city of Arras, engraved on copper by Braun and Hogenberg and masterfully hand-colored in watercolor.

This extraordinary and historically significant bird’s-eye view of the city of Arras, simply titled “Arras,” is the work of the celebrated collaboration between publisher Georg Braun (1541–1622) and engraver Frans Hogenberg (1535–1590). Printed in Cologne between the late 16th and early 17th centuries, this engraving originally formed part of the monumental Civitates Orbis Terrarum, the first major publication devoted entirely to plans and views of the most important cities in the known world.
The composition depicts the medieval and Renaissance urban layout of Arras in remarkable detail, highlighting the clear division between the old town and the new town, separated by the course of the Crinchon River. The topography is rendered with exceptional precision, showing the imposing fortified city walls with their bastions, entrance gates, inner gardens, and the principal religious and civic monuments of the period. In keeping with the iconographic tradition of the Braun-Hogenberg partnership, the map is embellished with distinctive decorative details: at the top is the city’s crowned coat of arms, set within a Renaissance frame, while in the lower-left corner are two figures in traditional period costume, originally included by the authors to depict local customs and to prevent the Ottoman Turks from using the plans for military purposes.
The print is in excellent overall condition. Printed on sturdy contemporary paper, it boasts refined and pleasing watercolor coloring that vividly brings out the architecture of individual buildings, the fortifications, and the details of the costumes. The sheet has the natural central fold from publication, retains clean, intact margins, and bears the customary descriptive text on the reverse, typical of editions of the atlas, making it a collector’s item of exceptional historical importance and visual appeal.

Dimensions 33 x 41 cm
It will be shipped by courier