Calcaria, ducatus

Title

Calcaria, ducatus

Description

Hand-coloured bird’s-eye view of Kalkar in North Rhine-Westphalia, featuring a title cartouche and figurative elements in the foreground. Reverse side in Latin.

ca. 1575

Artist

Braun/Hogenberg Franz/ Georg (1572-1618)

Frans Hogenberg (1535 – 1590) was a Flemish and German painter, engraver, and mapmaker. Hogenberg was born in Mechelen as the son of Nicolaas Hogenberg In 1568 he was banned from Antwerp by the Duke of Alva. He travelled to London, where he stayed a few years before emigrating to Cologne. He is known for portraits and topographical views as well as historical allegories. He also produced scenes of contemporary historical events. George Braun (1541-1622), a cleric of Cologne, was the principal editor of the "Civitates Orbis Terrarum". The first volume of the Civitates Orbis Terrarum was published in Cologne in 1572. The sixth and the final volume appeared in 1617. This great city atlas, edited by Georg Braun and largely engraved by Franz Hogenberg, eventually contained 546 prospects, bird-eye views and map views of cities from all over the world. Braun (1541-1622), a cleric of Cologne, was the principal editor of the work, and was greatly assisted in his project by the close, and continued interest of Abraham Ortelius, whose Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of 1570 was, as a systematic and comprehensive collection of maps of uniform style, the first true atlas.

Historical Description

Historical view of Kalkar and the Duchy of Cleves on the Lower Rhine. The Duchy of Cleves developed from the medieval County of Cleves and was elevated to the status of a duchy in 1417. Owing to its location on the Rhine, the territory was of considerable strategic and economic importance. Following the extinction of the ruling ducal line in 1609, disputes over the succession eventually resulted in Cleves passing to Brandenburg in 1614, making it an important western possession of the future Prussian monarchy.