die Stadt Lisbona. Libone.

Title

die Stadt Lisbona. Libone.

Description

View of the city of Lisbon with the River Tagus and ships offshore; a title banner appears above.

ca. 1645

Artist

Mallet (1630-1706)

Alain Manesson Mallet (1630- 1706 ) was a French cartographer and engineer. He started his career as a soldier in the army of Louis XIV, became a Sergeant-Major in the artillery and an Inspector of Fortifications. He also served under the King of Portugal, before returning to France, and his appointment to the court of Louis XIV. His military engineering and mathematical background led to his position teaching mathematics at court. His major publications were Description de L'Univers (1683) in 5 volumes, and Les Travaux de Mars ou l'Art de la Guerre (1684) in 3 volumes. His Description de L'Universe contains a wide variety of information, including star maps, maps of the ancient and modern world, and a synopsis of the customs, religion and government of the many nations included in his text. It has been suggested that his background as a teacher led to his being concerned with entertaining his readers. This concern manifested itself in the charming harbor scenes and rural landscapes that he included beneath his description of astronomical concepts and diagrams. Mallet himself drew most of the figures that were engraved for this book.

Historical Description

Saint Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in Europe, with a history of settlement by Phoenicians, Romans, and Moors. In 1147, King Afonso I captured the city during the Christian Reconquista. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Lisbon became Portugal's principal port and a leading center of European maritime trade in the Age of Discovery. The devastating earthquake of 1755 destroyed much of the city, which was subsequently rebuilt under the direction of the Marquis of Pombal according to modern urban planning principles. Today, Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and the country's political, economic, and cultural center.