Italy - Marche; Blaeu - Marca d’Ancona olim Picenum - 1643

Title: Marca d’Ancona, formerly Picenum.
Type: Regional geographic map.
Author: Joan Blaeu (1596–1673), within the Blaeu family cartographic production.
Designer: Not indicated. Cartographic layout derived from Giovanni Antonio Magini’s model.
Publisher: Blaeu’s Officina cartografica.
Place: Amsterdam.
Date: 1643, dating refers to the edition.
Source work: Le Théâtre du monde ou Nouvel Atlas, French edition.
Technique: Copperplate engraving on copper with burin, with hand watercoloring for the borders, cities and ornamental elements. The date of coloring is not established.
Support: Rag paper.
Dimensions: Sheet 50 × 58 cm. Plate 42.5 × 50.5 cm. Measurements given as height × width.
Composition: A two-page sheet with a vertical editorial fold at the center. On the verso, a French typographic text titled Marche d’Ancone, laid out in two columns per page, with the number 77 in the upper right corner.

Description

Seventeenth-century map of the Marca d’Ancona, with the Adriatic coastline arranged diagonally and the Apennine backbone delimiting the interior. The dense hatching of the reliefs, the network of watercourses, and the figurative symbols of the inhabited centers provide a detailed reading of the territory. The watercolor distinguishes borders and highlights the main cities. In the Adriatic, also called the “Gulf of Venetia,” four boats accompany a compass rose from which the routes radiate. At the bottom left, the title cartouche is topped by a shield with the picchio, emblem of the Piceno, and flanked by a female armed figure, a dog and two fantastic figures. Next to it is the cartouche with the scale of ten miles.
Regions and territories represented: The present-day Marche, with the Marca d’Ancona, part of the territory of the former Duchy of Urbino, and the territory of Fano indicated as “Part of the Church.” The map also includes portions of Umbria and northern Abruzzo, with Teramo, and the coastal stretch of the Adriatic Sea. Among the depicted centers are Pesaro, Urbino, Fano, Senigallia, Ancona, Jesi, Loreto, Macerata, Camerino, Fermo and Ascoli Piceno.

Historical-artistic note

The map belongs to the Italian regional production of the Blaeu workshop and echoes the geographic framework developed by Giovanni Antonio Magini for his Italy. The title couples the historical name of the Marca with the Latin name Picenum, also alluded to by the picchio in the cartouche. The French text on the verso expands the plate’s reading with information on the cities, the port of Ancona, the sanctuary of Loreto and the economic activities of the territory.

Condition Report

Vertical editorial crease at the center, with slight waviness and browning more evident in the lower part. Margins present on all four sides, a superficial irregularity at the upper edge corresponding to the fold. Light halos and scattered foxing spots, more evident in the margins and on the verso. Perimeter border line preserved and coloring clearly legible. Verso with French typographic text.