Von Italia. 603

Title

Von Italia. 603

Map shows the island Sicily with the Aethna.

ca. 1550

Artist

Münster (1489-1552)

Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) was a leading Renaissance cosmographer. His most famous work, the Cosmographia (1544), was a comprehensive description of the world with 24 maps, based on research dating back to 1528. Continuously revised, the 1550 edition already included many new maps. It was the first scientific yet accessible world description published in German, illustrated with numerous woodcuts by artists such as Hans Holbein the Younger. Between 1544 and 1650, the Cosmographia appeared in 46 editions (27 in German) and was translated into several languages. Münster’s work combined the knowledge of scholars, artists, and travelers and remained influential long after his death.

Historical Description

The central location of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea has shaped the eventful history of this island. As bases for seafaring and trade, the cities of Sicily have always had great importance. Time and again, therefore, new conquerors seized the island, stayed, mixed with the already resident population and left their mark on the culture of Sicily. Only rarely was the island politically independent, mostly it was ruled by empires or states that had their political center elsewhere. From about 800 B.C. began the period of colonization by Phoenicians, mainly from the Phoenician planting city of Carthage, and somewhat later by Greeks, for whom Sicily became part of Greater Greece. In 264 BC, a Roman army crossed into Sicily, triggering a war with the Carthaginians that resulted in heavy losses. By late antiquity, Sicily was largely Romanized. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the late 5th century, Sicily was first dominated by the Vandals and Ostrogoths and became part of the Eastern Roman-Byzantine Empire in the mid-6th century. The first attempt at Christian reconquest of the island was still a Byzantine initiative; the imperial commander Georgios Maniakes conquered Messina in 1038 and Syracuse in 1040. Now Sicily experienced another period of prosperity and became an independent kingdom in 1130. A symbiosis of Byzantine, Arab and Norman traditions produced many important works of art. Thereafter, Sicily again fell under the control of other powers: Aragon, Spain, Savoy and Austria followed one another. With the unification of Italy, which began with Garibaldi's invasion of Sicily, Sicily became part of the new Kingdom of Italy in 1861.