Maps

From the end of the 15th century, Venice distinguished itself internationally in the production of atlases, mappals, especially of isolariums, describing the properties of the patriciate and monastic orders.

Between the late seventeenth century and the first decade of the eighteenth century, the resumption of Venetian expansionist policy, with Commander Francesco Morosini's conquest of the Peloponnese, fueled colonialist visual production.

Cartography, written and in series, is often produced in large cartographic workshops and intended for the broad European collecting public.

Undisputed protagonist of the lagoon publishing scene, for the invention and dissemination of graphic and cartographic series, is Vincenzo Coronelli, Franciscan father, mathematician, plumber, publisher, and from 1685 public cosmographer.

The year before, he had founded at the convent of Santa Maria dei Frari the first European geographical society, the Academy of the Argonauts, with its symbol a globe surmounted by a ship and the motto “Plus ultra,” a sign of his desire to dominate the world with his enterprise.

In addition to views of the city, Coronelli also made globes, of which he was more interested in the spectacularity of their images and the scenic effect than in scientific accuracy.

After years of experimentation in the service of France's King Louis XIV, in 1692 Coronelli published the first spindle edition of his celestial globe in his Venetian print shop, destined to become a status symbol among European nobility.

The following year, to facilitate the assembly of the segments, he also attached a manual with numerous illustrations of hemispheres and celestial maps to the stellar catalog Epitome Cosmografica.

In the chalcographic workshop “ai Frari” the best talents in drawing, painting and engraving have been working for years. Alessandro Dalla Via, an illustrator from Verona and author of many plates, including those in the collection Navi e vascelli, published in 1697, stands out.

In the same work there are series of engraving masterpieces, in etching and burin, such as the water parades created by the Mauro brothers, public set designers, reproduced by Aniello Portio, another engraver highly appreciated by Vincenzo Coronelli.