La Nobiliss.a Citta di Piacenza

In the upper center, below the top edge, is the engraved title: LA NOBILISS.A CITTA DI PIACENZA. At lower left is the editorial imprint: Matteo florimi for. Along the lower border, arranged in twelve columns, a numerical legend consisting of 118 key-references.

Perspective plan of the city based on the model by Paolo Ponzoni (1572) as evidenced by the presence of the numerical legend of 118 key-references, absent in the map edited by Orlandi. Disappearing, however, is the column dividing the possessions of the Dominicans of San Giovanni from those of the Templars, present in both Ponzoni and his first copy. Florimi's map, as is also shown by the fair number of examples that are known today, was a good editorial success and was the model for later printed works on the city.

Paolo Ponzoni's ANTICHISSIMA E NOBILISSIMA CITTÀ DI PIACENZA came to light in 1571 from the printing press of Francesco Conti. It is the “first printed perspective plan to completely depict the city of Piacenza. The work of the Piacenza-born Paolo Bolzoni (or Ponzoni), an engraver and cartographer, it is dedicated "al suoi benigni et amorevoli piacentini," and is the obligatory reference point for subsequent plans of the city in both the 17th and 18th centuries. That the later replicas are not the result of the analysis of the state of affairs but Ponzoni's reworking, is proven by the repetition of some details of the plan that, instead, had to be corrected or updated. This is the case with Palazzo Farnese, which, begun in 1561, appears to be finished in Ponzoni's plan, despite the fact that work was in progress; in the replicas it is still depicted with a closed court, despite the fact that work had been stopped in 1604. Similarly, the torrazzo of the Piazza, built in 1339, although it was lowered in 1607, in engravings after this date still remains the hallmark of the square. All trace of the plan had been lost until the recent discovery in 2012 of the only example known today” (see Cartografia e Topografia Italiana del XVI secolo, p. 2304).

Etching and engraving, a strong impression on contemporary laid vpaper with unreadable watermark, with margins, in excellent condition.

Rare work, surveyed for only 13 institutional examples according Bifolco-Ronca (see Cartografia e Topografia Italiana del XVI secolo, p. 2204). For quality of impression and state of preservation the best example ever seen.

Matteo Florimi (Polistena c. 1540 - Siena 1613) was a publisher and merchant of books and prints. Of Calabrian origin, he settled in Siena in 1581, with a store “in Banchi”. Matteo Florimi's chalcographic activity was several times joined by master engravers such as Cornelis Galle, Arnoldo Arnoldi, Pieter de Iode, Jan Sadeler and artists such as Francesco Vanni, Ventura Salimbeni and Alessandro Casolani, with whom the printer collaborated in the preparation of religious subjects. Florimi's cartographic activity produced prints of many cities and territories around the world, which were never drawn for him, but were manipulations of already existing reliefs, or of maps published by other printers. In the second half of the sixteenth century, Florimi was far-sighted in devoting himself to the production of bird's-eye views of cities as faithfully as possible.  Florimi copied some maps by Antonio Lafreri, Claude Duchet, Abraham Ortelius. As far as map engraving work was concerned, in 1600, Matteo Florimi called the Flemish engraver Arnoldo degli Arnoldi to work in his workshop with the promise of greater compensation than that bestowed upon him by Giovanni Antonio Magini, with whom the artist was working. This offer by Florimi triggered the wrath of Magini, who, though not naming him, called him an "envious counterfeiter" for stealing such a skilled cartographer from him. The collaboration between Florimi and Arnoldi lasted only two years (1600-1602), but it was quite productive: together they printed the Stato di Siena, la Choronografia Tusciae, la Nuova descrittione della Lombardia, l’Europa, l’America and the Descrittione Universale della Terra.

Bibliografia

Bifolco-Ronca, Cartografia e Topografia Italiana del XVI secolo (2018), tav. 1189; Elisa Boffa, Un tipografo calabrese a Siena: Matteo Florimi, in “Accademia dei Rozzi” (2013): II, n. 23; H.A.M. van der Heijden, Matteo Florimi (+1613) – Landkarten und Stadtplanverleger in Siena, in “Florilegium Cartographicum”, Lipsia (1993): n. 39; Da Mareto (1975): p. 123, n. 200; Piacenza Incisa (2003): p. 14.