Other treasures

Perspective map of the city designed by Gabriele Bertazzolo, printed by Ludovico Delfichi in 1628. Copper engraving 768x1156 mm. This is the conclusion of the 1595 edition. The planning is the same but the setting reveal all the changes of the urban fabric in the time. The author worked a lot on the first map in order to enrich it and to arrive at this final writing, published two years after his death. The unfinished works should have been delivered at the Jesuits college in 1626.

Perspective view designed by Friedrich Bernhard Werner, printed in Augsburg in the first part of the XVII century. Copper engraving in black, white and colours, 310x1030mm. This view adopts a scenographic setting which was largely reused in the following century by a lot of authors. The size of the view permit to enjoy  the panning shot of the city. The dimensions of the shape and the high level of technical execution lend the map an extraordinary graphic effect. For this reasons the paper benefit (per questi motivi la carta godette lunga fortuna e produsse numerose filiazioni). It was printed both alone and with collections.

Topographic map of the city and its surroundings published by Nicolas de Fer in Paris in 1702 and 1705. Copper engravings black, white and colours, 233x341 mm. It is another example of the representation of the map of the city with only the fortify boundaries. It is one of the many military papers created and propagated in France during the War of the Spanish Succession.

Orpheus was composed by Claudio Monteverdi, the libretto was by the Mantuan Alessandro Striggio. The work was performed at the Accademia degli Invitti during the carnival in 1609. Although it is not the first example of composition that uses vernacular language, the Orpheus is recognized as being the first work in the opera genre. After the death of the composer it was not performed for some time, but in the nineteenth century it became one of the most staged works, thanks to the perfection of its music and beauty of the text. It is interesting to note that the story of Orpheus and Eurydice often inspired Mantuan artists: also the Orphues by Poliziano develops the same themes and is in continuity with the work of Virgil. The history of the performances of the opera by Monteverdi clearly confirms that the Gonzaga court was at the beginning seventeenth century one of the most important cultural centres in Europe for its theatrical production.