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Italy – Italia nuovamente più perfetta che mai by J. Janssonium (1658 approx.)

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Italy – Italia nuovamente più perfetta che mai by J. Janssonium (1658 approx.), original engraving hand watercolored

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Italy – Italia nuovamente più perfetta che mai by J. Janssonium (1658 approx.), original engraving hand watercolored.
Ptolemy, who lived during the first half of the 2nd century AD and was one of the greatest experts of ancient science, was the inventor of mathematical geography and rational cartography. His principle merit was to have attempted to determine the latitude and longitude of all the places known in his time. Because of the inferior level of scientific knowledge in Ptolemy’s time,  he made some serious mistakes in his maps. These geographical representations remained the prescribed standard until the beginning of the Middle Ages. They only started to be amended with new observations in the early years of the 16th century, above all in northern and central Europe where the great German and Dutch schools of cartography were developing. One of the better known schools was that of Gerardus Kremer, better known as MERCATOR, the illustrious geographer, engraver, mathematician and philosopher, friend of the great Flemish cartographer, printer and editor, Braham ORTELIO. These men have the merit of being the first to free geography from the rigid Ptolemaic tradition. During the first decades of the 17th century a series of important discoveries in mathematics, physics and astronomy paved the way for the substantial improvement in observation techniques, from the invention of the telescope to the astronomical studies of GALILEO and CASSINIS, that finally eliminated the difficulties of longitude determination. Italian cartographers as well were actively competing with the Germans and Dutch. The major centres of production were Venice and Rome, where the papal geographers shared among themselves all the information gathered by their missionaries. From the second half of the 16th century on, all the Italian states, large and small, were already diligently mapping their territories. There were also a number of maps of the entire peninsula in existence, mostly derived from models that had been established centuries before. As far as maps of Italy are concerned, the Italian cartographic workshops underwent a period of profuse development especially after 1550, owing to the work of the greatest Italian cartographer of the 1500s, the Piedmontese Giacomo GASTALDI and, later, that of the Paduan Antonio MAGINI, rightfully deemed his heir. Maps, both today and even more so in the past, were needed for the knowledge of the territory they provide, as well as for their obvious military uses, but they were particularly valuable for designating borders, the object of constant disputes and jealousy among the powers. The cartographers of the time encountered considerable difficulties in their work. Besides the secrecy which often covered the maps, which for this reason were looked after by special authorities there was the job of preparing the matrices with the engraving method, comparable as an activity to that of a goldsmith, especially as regards the writing of the place names, which for reasons of space had to be made extremely small. A very long time was needed to make a map and it was so difficult to retouch or correct the engraving that it isn’t uncommon to find errors in the maps. Furthermore, only a limited numberof copies could be made, since the plates, which at first were made of wood and later of copper, tended to deteriorate rapidly with repeated use. These effects can be seen particularly in the copperplate prints, where as the woodcuts deteriorated less but were more difficult to prepare. This map is made using the techniques of xylography, the oldest of the graphic arts. Its origin is lost in the mists of the Middle Ages; if we want to believe the voyagers of that period it seems that this art was practiced in China and brought to Europetowards the middle of the 14th century. At that time it was used for making religious images and playing cards. The wood was carved; the design, which stood out in relief, was inked and transferred onto paper by means of a very primitive press. With the invention of printing by GUTEMBERG di Magonza in 1450, xylography became the new graphic art used in the illustration of books. During the 15th century it became widespread and progressed rapidly. The wood that was used was generally from pear trees, sawed into small boards in the direction of the fibers. Later, this wood was replaced by boxwood sawed across the fibers; in this way the wood was easier to carve and the engraving could be made much more elaborate. Copperplate engraving, or calcografia, was first used in 1452 by the Florentine goldsmith Maso FINIGUERRA. It dethroned xylography which couldn’t compete with the fine artistic work of the rival technique, which was truly beyond comparison. In the beginning the tool used for copperplate engraving was the burin, just as in xylography, but later it was replaced by the technique called “acquaforte”. By combining the two engraving techniques and having recourse as well to modern graphic procedures, it was possible to obtain the results found in this engraving, which evoke those achieved with the antique methods. To see how true this is, just lightly rubbing the paper is enough. In fact, the map was made with the xylographic method, but it has the esthetic fineness of a copperplate engraving, needed to draw the tiny details found in a geographic map. The map in question, which is an exact reproduction of the original except for having been made more legible with a difficult and painstaking job of restauration, was made with the techniques described above, and printed on fine paper of pure cotton, which has a fiber that ensures that the dimension isn’t changed by the press and a softness that other paper made of cellulose cannot attain. It is mounted “at intervals” on a support, also of cotton, as became the practice at the beginning of the 18th century, making the map easier to handle, since it can be folded, easier to preserve and less voluminous. Furthermore, since the maps were made by hand, one by one, each one is unique, with characteristics slightly different from the others. This map, ITALIA PIU’ PERFETTA CHE MAI… of Joannem Ianssonium, it was made at the end of the 17th century. It shows a splendid Italy almost in its true shape, as the cartographic technique used was already quite cultivated and refined.

Additional information

Weight 118 g
Dimensions 52 × 0,01 × 39 cm

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