La Bulgaria e la Romania con Parte di Macedonia

Title

La Bulgaria e la Romania con Parte di Macedonia

Decorative map showing Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, the European part of Turkey, and two magnificent cartouches.

dated 1689

Artist

Cantelli da Vignola (1643-1695)

Giacomo Cantelli (1643–1695) studied literature in Bologna and later became secretary to the Marquis of Ferrara, Obizzi. He moved to Venice, where he gained recognition as a geographer, and likely traveled to Paris as part of a Venetian diplomatic mission to the court of Louis XIV. In Paris, he connected with cartographers such as Guillaume Sanson, Jacques-André Duval, and Michel-Antoine Baudrand. After returning to Italy, he served as secretary to Count Rinieri Marescotti in Bologna and traveled extensively, including to Rome, where he met publisher Giovanni Giacomo De Rossi. In 1672, De Rossi began publishing Cantelli’s maps, starting with the Holy Land, the Kingdom of Persia, and regions of the Ottoman Empire. In 1680–1681, Cantelli’s maps of Upper and Lower Lombardy appeared in the Mercury Geographic Atlas in Rome, showing strong influence from Giovanni Antonio Magini’s cartographic style.

Historical Description

In the historical sense, Eastern Europe refers to Ukraine, the European part of Russia, Belarus and the Republic of Moldova. Occasionally, the Caucasian countries of Georgia, Armenia and, conditionally, Azerbaijan are also seen as part of Eastern Europe. By Christian Giordano and other scholars, one of the six historical regions of Europe is called "Eastern Europe." The Eastern European countries are historically and culturally largely influenced by the Orthodox Church (Islamic Azerbaijan excepted) and were - in contrast to the Ottoman-dominated Balkans - under the rule of the Russian Empire. Like the Balkan countries, the countries of Eastern Europe were for a long time backward agricultural states (cf.: Intermediate Europe) and had no or only a limited share in the social developments of the Renaissance, Reformation and Enlightenment of the Western world.