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Pietro Paolo Forlani's Battle Plan of the Siege of Vercelli.
Rare Lafreri style battle plan showing the 1616 Siege of Vercelli by the Spanish, attributed in the title block to Pietro Paolo Floriani and engraved by Felix Florianus, in 1617. The battle plan is dedicated to Girolamo Caraffa, the Marchese di Monte Negro.
The plan includes an extensive key describing the battle, fortifications, positions of the various combatants, etc. Withing the City walls, th Duomo and Church of S. Andrea. East is shown at the top, with Sesia River shown and further military engagements on the far side.
Pietro Paolo Floriani (1585-1638) was an Italian engineer and architect who designed many military and theatrical buildings. He had an adventurous life and a multifaceted personality as he was also a man of arms and a literary figure.
In 1617, Floriani was sent to work for the Governor of Milan, Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, who had begun an extensive defensive engineering program. Floriani spent about a year in Milan, during which time this battle plan was engraved.
We are aware of only a single example in the collection of the National Library of Malta.
![[Naples]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/77322.jpg)
