Bidspirit auction | Nocerra in Appennino monte /

Nocerra in Appennino monte / Castel Novo. Colónia, c. 1600. - [NOCERA UMBRA / CASTELNUOVO DI PORTO]. Nocerra in Appennino monte / Castel Novo . Georg BRAUN; Frans HOGENBERG (eds.), after a drawing by Georgius Hoefnagel. [Cologne, Georg Braun & Frans Hogenberg, c. 1600]. Engraving; 425 × 545 mm (sheet). Double sheet with two horizontal views: at top, the small town of Nocera Umbra, identified as “Nocerra in Appennino monte”, set on a rocky spur amidst the mountainous landscape of the Apennines, with densely built settlement, towers and bell towers at centre, paths, horsemen and travellers in the foreground; in the corners, indications of the cardinal points (“Oriens”, “Occidens”). At bottom, view of Castelnuovo di Porto (“Castel Novo”), also in a hilly setting, with the walled town and palace at centre, cultivated fields and, in the foreground, a road with a covered coach, horsemen and figures on foot; “Septentrio” and “Meridies” indicated at the extremities of the image. Verso with extensive descriptive text in Latin under the headings NVCERIA and CASTELVM NOVVM , paged “64”, belonging to volume V of the celebrated urban atlas Civitates orbis terrarum . The Civitates orbis terrarum , published in six volumes between 1572 and 1617, is the great city atlas of Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg, illustrated largely from drawings by Joris (Georg) Hoefnagel and considered one of the foundational works of urban cartography at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries.