Bidspirit auction | Nova Bracarae Augustae descriptio. Colónia,

Nova Bracarae Augustae descriptio. Colónia, c. 1599. - [BRAGA]. Nova Bracarae Augustae descriptio. Georg BRAUN; Frans HOGENBERG (eds.). [Cologne, Georg Braun & Frans Hogenberg, c. 1599]. Coloured engraving; 425 × 535 mm (sheet). Notable bird’s-eye plan of the city of Braga, shown walled and of roughly oval layout, with the main streets radiating from the area of the cathedral and ancient forum. Within the walls, the cathedral and other religious and civic buildings are distinguished and numbered, corresponding to Latin legends; outside the walls, gardens, cultivated fields, paths and streams, as well as the bridge over the river Este at the lower sector. At top, the Latin title runs across the countryside, flanked by the arms of the archbishopric of Braga (left) and of the city (right). At lower right, ornamental cartouche with descriptive text; in other parts of the border, small manuscript cartouches with historical and topographical notes. Verso printed in Latin under the heading BRACARAE AUGUSTAE , with description of the city and list of the marked buildings, paged “3”, belonging to volume V of the Civitates orbis terrarum . Published in the famous series by Braun and Hogenberg, this plan constitutes the first detailed representation of Braga in the modern era, born of the combination of the learned tradition of ancient Bracara Augusta and the 16th-century urban reality. The image fixed in lasting form the topography of the intra-muros city and is today a fundamental source for the study of Braga’s urban morphology.