Les Estats de Savoye, Piemont, et les copte de Nice

  • Translation

Article ID EUI1191

Title

Les Estats de Savoye, Piemont, et les copte de Nice

Description

Map shows total Piemont, Savoyen and partly the Cote d´Azur

Year

ca. 1650

Artist

Sanson (1600-1667)

Nicolas Sanson (1600–1667) was a French cartographer, termed by some the creator of French geography, in which he's been called the father of French cartography. Active from 1627, Sanson issued his first map of importance, the ""Postes de France"", which was published by Melchior Tavernier in 1632. After publishing several general atlases himself he became the associate of Pierre Mariette, a publisher of prints. In 1647 Sanson accused the Jesuit Philippe Labbe of plagiarizing him in his Pharus Galliae Antiquae; in 1648 he lost his eldest son Nicolas, killed during the Fronde. Among the friends of his later years was the great Condé. He died in Paris on 7 July 1667. Two younger sons, Adrien (d. 1708) and Guillaume (d. 1703), succeeded him as geographers to the king. In 1692 Hubert Jaillot collected Sanson's maps in an Atlas nouveau. See also the 18th century editions of some of Sanson's works on Delamarche under the titles of Atlas de géographie ancienne and Atlas britannique; and the Catalogue des cartes et livres de géographie de Sanson (1702).

Historical Description

In ancient times, in northern Italy, unlike in southern Italy, there was hardly any Greek colonization. For the Roman Empire, Northern Italy was initially Gallia cisalpina. Since the Middle Ages, northern Italy has been characterized by remarkable trading cities, which, starting from the Veronese Confederation, united in the Lombardenbund against Emperor Barbarossa. At that time, some basics of business administration and banking, such as double-entry bookkeeping, were created in northern Italy. In pre-Roman centuries it was inhabited by different peoples among whom the Ligures, the ancient Veneti, who prospered through their trade in amber and breeding of horses, the Etruscans, who colonized Northern Italy from Tuscany, founded the city of Bologna and spread the use of writing; later, starting from the 5th century BC, the area was invaded by Celtic – Gallic tribes. These people founded several cities like Turin and Milan and extended their rule from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea. Their development was halted by the Roman expansion in the Po Valley from the 3rd century BC onwards. After centuries of struggle, in 194 BC the entire area of what is now Northern Italy became a Roman province with the name of Gallia Cisalpina ("Gaul on the inner side (with respect to Rome) of the Alps"). The Roman culture and language overwhelmed the former civilization in the following years, and Northern Italy became one of the most developed and rich areas of the western half of the empire with the construction of a wide array of roads and the development of agriculture and trade. After the fall of the Western Empire, Northern Italy suffered heavily from destruction brought about by migration from Germanic peoples and from the Gothic War. In the 10th century Northern Italy was formally under the rule of the Holy Roman Empire but was in fact divided in a multiplicity of small, autonomous city-states, the medieval communes and maritime republic. The 11th century marked a significant boom in Northern Italy's economy, due to improved trading and agricultural innovations, culture flourished as well with many universities founded, among them the University of Bologna, the oldest university in Europe. In the end a balance of power was reached in 1454 with the Peace of Lodi and Northern Italy ended up divided between a small number of regional states, the most powerful were the Duchies of Savoy, Milan, Mantua, Ferrara and the Republics of Genoa and Venice, which had begun to extend its influence in the mainland from the 14th century onwards. In the 15th century Northern Italy became one of the centres of the Renaissance whose culture and works of art were highly regarded. After the French Revolution in the late 18th century Northern Italy was conquered by the French armies, many client republics were created by Napoleon and in 1805 a new Kingdom of Italy, made of all of Northern Italy but Piedmont that was annexed to France, was established with Milan as capital and Napoleon as head of state. In the congress of Vienna, the Kingdom of Sardinia was restored, and furthermore enlarged by annexing the Republic of Genoa to strengthen it as a barrier against France. The rest of Northern Italy was under Austrian rule, either direct like in the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom or indirect like in the Duchies of Parma and Modena. Bologna and Romagna were given to the Papal State.

Place of Publication Paris
Dimensions (cm)56 x 47,5
ConditionSome restoration at the center
Coloringoriginal colored
TechniqueCopper print

Reproduction:

97.50 €

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