Italy - Milan, Lombardy; Dheulland et Julien - Environs de Milan - 1748

Technical data

Title: Environs de Milan.
Type: Regional geographic map with topographic and military character.
Authors / Cartographers: Guillaume Dheulland and Roch-Joseph Julien.
Designer and Engraver: Not indicated on the plate.
Publisher: Guillaume Dheulland, for the work edited with Roch-Joseph Julien.
Place: Paris.
Period: 1748, date of edition.
Technique: Copperplate engraving with manual coloring added afterward.
Support: Parchment-backed map.
Dimensions: Sheet about 25.5 × 35 cm. Imprint about 22.5 × 31 cm.
Inscriptions: «Environs de Milan» at the upper margin, between the scales in Italian miles and French leagues. «Avec Privilège du Roy» bottom left and «Feuille IIᵉ» bottom right.
Composition: Single horizontal plate, sheet II of the detailed maps of Théâtre de la Guerre en Italie, with graduated grid and raccordation letters along the border.

Description

Topographic map of Milan and central Lombardy, extending from Brianza to the southern shore of Lake Iseo and, toward the southeast, to Soncino. Milan occupies the lower left sector and is recognizable by the plan of the walled bastioned perimeter, highlighted in red. The pattern of roads, canals and watercourses allows following the connections between the city, the plains and the centers located along the Adda, Brembo, Serio and Oglio rivers. The reliefs are rendered by hatching, while woods, castles and settlements are indicated by conventional signs. The subsequent coloring highlights territorial boundaries, waterways and the principal fortifications.
Regions and States represented: Lombardy, in present-day Italy. The map includes the Milanese, Brianza, the Adda belt, the Bergamo plain, the Cremonese margin and the western Brescia area. It shows the territories of the Duchy of Milan and the Bergamo and Brescia areas of the Republic of Venice. Among the depicted centers are Milan, Monza, Desio, Seregno, Vimercate, Trezzo sull’Adda, Cassano d’Adda, Treviglio, Caravaggio, Palazzolo sull’Oglio, Chiari and Soncino.

Historical-artistic note

The Théâtre de la Guerre en Italie was published in 1748, at the end of the War of the Austrian Succession, which had one of its main theaters in northern Italy. Sheet II documents the connections between Milan and the eastern plain of the city. The detail devoted to bridges, river crossings and fortified settlements reflects the military function of the series, while the grid and the letters along the border allow raccording with the adjacent sheets.

Condition Report

Central vertical editorial fold, with slight browning on the recto and more marked irregularities along the fold on the verso. Paper slightly wavy, with small halos and scattered specks, especially in the margins. Margins present on all four sides, with plate impression and legible perimetral border. Blank verso.