Bidspirit auction | Wiismaria. Colónia, c. 1598.

Wiismaria. Colónia, c. 1598. - [WISMAR]. Wiismaria. Georg BRAUN; Frans HOGENBERG (eds.). [Cologne, Georg Braun & Frans Hogenberg, c. 1598]. Engraving; 425 × 535 mm (sheet). Panoramic view of the Hanseatic city of Wismar taken from the bay, with the Maris Baltici in the foreground animated by numerous sailing ships and smaller craft; in the background, the city stretches along the shoreline, the great Gothic churches (St Nicholas, St Mary, St George) and civic towers standing out, with walls and houses set behind a broad strip of farmland and meadows with grazing cattle. In the foreground, on the shore, a group of male figures in urban and ecclesiastical dress illustrates local costume. Three armorial shields crown the composition at the top. Text printed on the verso in Latin under the heading WISMARIV., with a historical description of the city and a laudatory poem by Georgius Ilse, senator of Wismar, with the note “Iussu DN. Coll. VVismarienfium”; pagination “46”, from volume V of the Civitates orbis terrarum.