Bidspirit auction | Plona (Plön, Holsácia). Colónia, c.

Plona (Plön, Holsácia). Colónia, c. 1598. - [PLÖN (SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN)]. Plona. Georg BRAUN; Frans HOGENBERG (eds.). [Cologne, Georg Braun & Frans Hogenberg, c. 1598]. Engraving; 425 × 535 mm (sheet). View of Lake Plön (Plöner See) and the town of the same name, with the castle set on a wooded peninsula and surrounded by formal gardens, parterres and avenues. The broad expanse of water occupies the centre of the composition, with islets, boats and landing stages; along the shores follow country houses and manor houses, woods and paths, composing an ordered, pleasure-garden landscape. In the foreground, groups of figures on horseback and on foot emphasise the scale. At the top, an ornamental cartouche carries a dedication to Henricus Rantzovius (Heinrich Rantzau), governor of the duchy and humanist patron, to whom the layout of the gardens is associated. Text printed on the verso in Latin under the heading PLONA, with historical notes and poems, including the “Horti Ranzoviani Leges, sub Henrico Ranzovio”; pagination “36”, from volume V of the Civitates orbis terrarum.