Roma

Famous topographical map of Rome, a reworking, on the invention of Giovanni Battista Nolli, of Leonardo Bufalini's xylographic plan depicting the city in 1551.

The plan was sold together with Nolli's large and small plans, of which it constitutes Tables 35 and 36.

It was engraved by Franco Monaco and Carlo Nolli, whose signature can be read at lower left.

Nolli made no attempt to rectify inconsistencies of the Bufalini map when he prepared the reduced copy. The Popolo trivium still has its unequal angles, and the Circus Maximus is still semicircular at both ends instead of one. He did, however, give greater relief than the original to the densely populated part of the city by shading in the city blocks. This is the same graphical convention he used on his own map. He maintained Bufalini's emphasis on antiquity by copying them exactly as in the original.  Indeed he acknowledges this aspect by including views of ancient buildings at the bottom, where the map appears to be scrolled up, so as to reveal the "Colonnacce," a broken aqueduct, and the Pantheon (with Baroque additions) in the lower left corner, and the three ruins of the Forum Boarium in the lower right hand corner: The round Temple of "Mater Matuta," the Arch of Janus (with Medieval additions) and the Temple of "Fortuna Virilis."

The map was engraved, as signed, by Franco Monaco and Carlo Nolli. On the upper left, the cartouche with the dedication to the Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga.

Etching with engraving, a fine impression on contemporary laid paper, with margins, perfect condition.

Bibliografia

Frutaz, Le piante di Roma, CLXIX a-c.