Bidspirit auction | Bardovicum (Bardewick, Saxónia Inferior). Colónia,

Bardovicum (Bardewick, Saxónia Inferior). Colónia, c. 1598. - [BARDEWICK (LOWER SAXONY)]. Bardovicum. Georg BRAUN; Frans HOGENBERG (eds.). [Cologne, Georg Braun & Frans Hogenberg, c. 1598]. Engraving; 425 × 535 mm (sheet). Panoramic bird’s-eye view of the old town of Bardowick on the banks of the river Ilmenau. The urban core is scattered among gardens and cereal fields, with the street pattern and small blocks converging on the main churches and towers; the former defensive circuit can be inferred from ditches and ramparts. Along the river are mills and light craft; in the foreground, country roads with ox-drawn carts and figures on foot and on horseback underline the agricultural and mercantile character of the place. At the top are ornamental cartouches with the title BARDEWICK and a legend; to the right, the local coat of arms with three bulbs (traditional allusion to the cultivation of onions). Text printed on the verso in Latin under the heading BARDOVICVM, containing a historical notice and an epigram on the town; pagination “44”, from volume V of the Civitates orbis terrarum.