La Topografia di Roma di Gio Batta Noli dalla Maggiore in questa Minor Tavola...

Nice example of Ignacio Benedetti's finely executed map of Rome, based upon (and specifically referencing) an earlier map of Rome engraved by Giovani Battista Nolli and Carlo Nolli, with decorative elements engraved by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, first issued in 1748.

The map shows the center of Rome in great detail, lying on a sort of curtain deployed from the cherub at the top right, spectacularly placed in an urban setting which pays tribute to the policy of Pope Benedict XIV Lambertini (1740-1758).

In the upper left, a putto is shown supporting the coat of arms of Cardina Giovanni Carlo Boschi, to whom the work is dedicated, as noted in the inscription contained in the cartouche below. Just below, a legend includes a list of palaces, monuments, and churches, which is continued at the right edge of the map. In the bottom center, on the ruins of a pedestal, the title is given, along with the names of the makers.

At the bottom appear, a mirror-image of the Basilica of St. Peter is shown, the symbolic place of Christian Rome, along with the most prestigious architectural achievements of eighteenth-century Rome: the facade of the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme di Pietro Passalacqua and Domenico Gregorini, the Fountain Trevi by Nicola Salvi and the facade of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore by Ferdinando Fuga.

First state of the map, then printed by Giuseppe Vasi and Vincenzo Monaldini.

Copper engraving, with margins, good condition.

Bibliografia

Scaccia Scarafoni n. 234; Bertarelli n. 176, Marigliani n. 191, I/III.