Northern Italy Map 1688 Duchies of Venice & Milan Baroque Print - Venice, Milan, Genoa, Mantua, Turin

Matthaeus Merian the Elder and Caspar Merian engraved this Nova et Accurata Ducatus Venetiani, Mediolani, Genuae, Mantuae et Finitimorum Principatuum Delineatio, which the Merian heirs published in Frankfurt in 1688 in the Topographia Italiae. The sheet measures about 37 by 29 centimeters and is a monochrome copper engraving. It spans the Alps in the north to the northern Apennines, from Savoy and Provence in the west to Istria and Carinthia in the east, with the Gulf of Venice on the right and the Ligurian Sea at lower left. Three coats of arms crown the title cartouche, including the winged lion of Saint Mark for Venice. The catalog notes that the dimensions it gives are the sheet size, and that the volume belongs to the celebrated Topographia series begun by the elder Merian.

The map focuses on the Duchy of Venice and its neighbors, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Genoa and the Duchy of Mantua. The Po, labeled Padus, crosses the plain from the foothills near Turin to the Adriatic near Venice, and the lakes Garda, Maggiore and Como are stippled in. The Venetian lagoon is drawn with its islands and channels, and coastal towns such as Chioggia, Ravenna and Rimini are named, along with the duchies of Parma and Modena. Finely hatched mountains, delicate rivers and densely lettered place names are typical of late Baroque cartography.

A collector of Merian engravings, a family with roots in Venice, Milan, Genoa or Mantua, or a lover of the Po plain will find a thoughtful gift here. TheMapVault's Nova Italiae Delineatio of the same year shows the whole peninsula, whereas this 1688 sheet concentrates on the duchies of the north in a single black-and-white engraving. Like every print in the collection, it ships unframed and is available in a full range of sizes, from a compact desk piece to a large-format statement print.