Bidspirit auction | Calatia vulgo Caiazo. Colónia, 1598

Calatia vulgo Caiazo. Colónia, 1598 (datada 1597). - [CAIAZZO]. Calatia vulgo Caiazo, perantiquum Campaniae foelicis oppidum. Georg BRAUN; Frans HOGENBERG (eds.). [Cologne, Georg Braun & Frans Hogenberg, 1598; date “1597” on the plate]. Engraving; 425 × 535 mm (sheet). Plan-view of the fortified city of Caiazzo, in Campania, represented as a walled quadrilateral with moat, gates and bastions, its interior laid out in a regular grid of streets, squares and prominent buildings (churches, convents, palace, etc.). The town rises on a rocky spur dominating the valley, surrounded by very rugged relief with winding paths, isolated houses, cultivated fields and small bridges over the river Volturno, which runs along the right-hand side of the image. At lower left, title cartouche with the legend “ Calatia vulgo Caiazo, perantiquum Campaniae foelicis oppidum ”; at upper left, blank shield reserved for arms; at upper right, compass rose; at bottom, cartouche with descriptive text in Latin. Verso printed with historical and topographical description under the heading CALATIA , paged “66”, forming part of volume V of the Civitates orbis terrarum . The oppidum of Caiazzo, north-east of Capua and near the Volturno, is here presented as heir to the ancient Roman Calatia, with an emphasis on urban continuity through the regularity of the plan and the monumentality of the principal buildings. The engraving belongs to the monumental city atlas Civitates orbis terrarum , directed by Georg Braun and engraved chiefly by Frans Hogenberg, whose first Latin edition of volume V appeared in 1598; the date 1597, engraved on the upper border of the plate, marks the completion of the drawing and matrix.