Eighty Years War (Dutch War of Independence) (1568-1648)
Contemporary prints and maps of the battles and sieges of the Eighty Years War
View of Bona, 1607 (Annaba, Algeria) 36°54ʹ00ʺN 07°46ʹ00ʺE
published 1607Etching and engraving; printed on paper; mounted on paper (Mount Type A); gilt edges left, right and bottom | Scale: not stated. | RCIN 721132
A medium/high oblique view of the taking of the Turkish-held town of Bona, with the Bishopric of Sant’Agostino, by order of Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (30 July 1549-17 February 1609) by the Knights of St Stephen and Tuscan forces in the greatest amphibious operation undertaken by the Order of St Stephen in 1607. Oriented with south-west to top (cardinal points).
The Tuscan fleet, whose main purpose was to engage with Ottoman shipping and Berber pirates, was commanded by Jacopo Inghirami (July 1565-3 January 1624) Admiral of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and marquis of Montevitozzo.
This print is mentioned by Carchio (2012) in a chonological list of Cantagallina’s work in which she says that this view, which celebrates the victory of the Tuscan troups over the Turks, preceded the decoration of the Sala di Bona di Palazzo Pitti, Florence, with the same subject by Bernardino Pocetti (1548-1612).
The title appears in the top centre, in a cartouche, decorated with military equipment, surmounted by the Medici coat of arms with the cross of the Order of St Stephen; below the title is another coat of arms in the form of a shield divided into four empty quarters by a cross the arms of which are four crescent moons (the arms of Popes Pius II and III).
Remigio Cantagallina (c. 1582-1656) (engraver) [bottom right:] Remigius Canta / Gallina fecit. / 1·6·0·7
Subject(s)
Army-TuscanyArmy-Ottoman EmpireWatermark: None visible
Condition: five fold lines; formerly folded to 15.1 x 10.4 cm; brown stains and discolouration; worn along folds; 2.5 cm tear to left edge; printed from a dirty copperplate; pressure marks from the mounts of items which were kept above and below this print in a different collection are present on the recto and verso. Verso: surface dirt especially on the outer panels of the folded item. The print was in very poor condition before being mounted
Scale: not stated. Scale bar: [56 mm=] 200 [units not specified].
36.8 x 54.6 cm (image and sheet)
cropped (platemark)
40.3 x 54.6 cm (mount)
Printed title:
BONA CITTA DI BARBARIA / GIA VESCOVADO DI SANTO / AGOSTINO. [top centre, in a cartouche, decorated with military equipment, surmounted by the Medici coat of arms with the cross of the Order of St Stephen; below the title is another coat of arms in the form of a shield divided into four empty quarters by a cross the arms of which are four crescent moons (the arms of Popes Pius II and III)]
Additional text:
[top right, a key, A-I, K-T, V, X, Y.]
Annotations:
George III heading: Bona taken by the Forces of the Duke of Tuscany in 1607.
Other annotations: (Recto) [bottom right, black pencil:] 1607. (Verso) [top left, black pencil, erased:] I/1[?]; [left of centre, red pencil:] 1/115.
George III catalogue entry:
Bona A Plan of Bona taken by the Forces of the Duke of Tuscany in 1607: by Remigius Canta Gallina, 1607.
Subject(s)
Annaba, Algeria (36°54ʹ00ʺN 07°46ʹ00ʺE)
Bibliographic reference(s)
M. Carchio, Vasari vedutista: Cantagallina e gli Argonauti nel mare Arno, Firenze, 2012, p.69
M. Gemignani, ‘La conquista di Bona’, Società di Storia Militare 2, 1994, pp. 375-7
J. B. Hattendorf and R. W. Unger, War at sea in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Woodbridge, 2003, p. 182
M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. no. 2814
Page revisions
25 May 2024
Current version
