Messina

Splendid bird's eye view of the city, published in Siena in the early seventeenth century.

At the top center, under the upper edge, the title is engraved: MESSINA. Along the lower margin we find a numerical legend of 167 references to notable places and monuments, distributed over fourteen columns. The editorial imprint follows Matteo florimi for.

Derivation of the map of Argaria and Lafreri is due to the Sienese typography of Matteo Florimi, who portrays the city exactly as described in the 1567 model. The numerical legend always consists of 167 references and also the decorative layout, composed mainly of ships outside and in port, it is very similar.

“The map by Gaspare Argaria constitutes the first overall image of the city. It is also the first to show the Arsenale Nuovo, built on the arm of San Ranieri in 1565 - Arcenal Novo fato L year 1565. The design is very accurate and detailed: in addition to the buildings rendered in a very realistic way, we note the numerous types of boats of the time present in the port and in the Strait. In the lower part of the sheet there is a detailed legend, with 167 references to the places represented in the plan, as specified in the dedication: mostrando di quā[n]to più ho possuto per’ i numeri tutti i Castelli, Forti, Fonte, Strade, Piazze, Chiese, Conuenti, Monasteri, & altri lochi .. The map is dedicated by the author to the Sicilian nobleman Pietro de Luna e Salviati (1520-1575), first Duke of Bivona, to whom the title, also by virtue of his propitious marriage with the daughter of the viceroy of Sicily, Giovanni de Vega, had recently been given this title by Charles V” (cf. Cartografia e Topografia Italiana del XVI secolo, p. 2206).

Etching and engraving, printed on contemporary laid paper, with margins, in excellent condition.

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): p. 2215, tav. 1132; Ganado (1994): p. 214, n. 75; Shirley (2004): III, n. 38; Elisa Boffa, Un tipografo calabrese a Siena: Matteo Florimi, in “Accademia dei Rozzi” (2013): II, n. 13; H.A.M. van der Heijden, Matteo Florimi (+1613) – Landkarten und Stadtplanverleger in Siena, in “Florilegium Cartographicum”, Lipsia (1993): n. 29.