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Description

This a rare view of Venice from the French atlas maker and royal cartographer Jean Boisseau. The stunning view presented shows the city of the Doges in a magnificent bird's eye format, focusing on the main island and surrounding islets, but with the mainland visible in the background.

The harbor and canals of Venice are finely illustrated with a great number of the individual buildings easily identifiable and named, including St. Mark's Basilica, the Doge's Palace, and the Rialto bridge. The Grand Canal opens onto the Adriatic, embellished with numerous sailing and merchants' vessels both at anchor and fully rigged. In addition, smaller boats and gondolas travel throughout the islands and in the Grand Canal. 

The islands in the Venetian Lagoon are illustrated with exact detail, with San Giorgio and its buildings depicted, as well as Murano, Burano, Torcello and others scattered across the work.  An intriguing coat of arms includes the typical imagery of St. Marc's lion, a Doge's cap, and ribbons, but an unusual animalian face appears under the cap.

This image portrays Venice during its three-century decline from power. While the city still thrived on trade, the growing power of the city-states on the mainland and the city's lack of success at the Battle of Lepanto were issues plaguing the city at the time.

This work was published in the now exceedingly rare Atlas du Théâtre des Citez.

Rarity

We note one example in the BNF and only two examples that have appeared on the market.

Condition Description
Fold toning.