Vedute

The oldest views of Florence originate from the 14th century. However, it was not until the 15th century that the desire for an accurate reproduction of the city and its buildings developed, which spread above all because of the new medium of printing. The woodcut from Hartmann Schedel’s “Liber Chronicarum” (1493) is one of the earliest of these illustrations. It shows a view from the south-west over the city protected by walls and with the cathedral dome rising impressively from the middle. This woodcut and the one from the Italian edition of Sebastian Münster’s “Cosmographia” (1575), imitate the “chain map” of the Florentine Francesco Rosselli (circa 1485) in their representation. Only one of the original copper engravings that Rosselli used as a template, consisting of six assembled plates, has survived. It was engraved again in 1758 for a tableau book of Florentine monuments, from which our example comes. The two following copper engravings also imitate the “chain map”; they are characterized by a lower observation perspective and a more elaborate graphical composition. The subject of the smaller engraving, done around 1730, has been made the main subject of the reproductions of the 19th century: The picturesque view from the countryside over the city in the valley. It conveys to the henceforth generally middle-class traveller from Northern Europe the misty image of a land which is still untouched by the advance of industrialization. The last picture, done using the aquatint technique, is part of a series of reproductions of Tuscan cities which in their entirety are intended to impart a vivid image of the recently unified Italy.