Other 16th-century conflicts
Contemporary maps of 10 sixteenth-century wars
Map of Sebenico, 1570 (Šibenik, Šibensko-Kniniska, Croatia) 43°43ʹ38ʺN 15°54ʹ21ʺE
1571 or laterEngraving and etching; printed on paper; contemporary hand-colouring in gold, silver, red, and terra vert, with a black border | 17.0 x 21.4 cm (image) | RCIN 721054
A high oblique view/map of the Dalmation coast, centred on Sebenico, showing the Venetian fleet along the coast and the Turkish army advancing from the north-east. Fourth Ottoman-Venetian War (1570-1573). Oriented with north (T[ramontana]) to top.
This view was published in Isole famose, porti, fortezze, e terre marittime, an ‘isolario’ which is usually attributed to Camocio who published at least twelve of the map views, the number of which varied in each volume but which, in the 1574 edition, contained 88 numbered prints. This view of Sebenico is one of the earlier sets of unnumbered prints and is designed to be joined up to RCIN 721055 (K.Mil.I.55). An earlier state, attributed to Martin Rota and engraved by Camocio, lacks any lettering in the title cartouche and shows only one ship – the galley to the left of the title cartouche, and also omits the Turkish army.
In March-April 2003, the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts held an exhibition of Martin Rota’s work and this view/map may have been one of the exhibits. See a catalogue entry in Croatian for this map.
? Martin Rota (Sibenik c.1520-Vienna 1583) (artist and printmaker)
? Giovanni Francesco Camocio (active 1560-72) (engraver and publisher)
Subject(s)
Army-TurkeyNavy-Venetian RepublicWatermark: SEBENICO El contado citta / nella Dalmatia confináte con Zarra / dli Ill.mi S.ri Ven.ni al pnte da / Turchi molestado: i57i: - [bottom right, in a cartouche with ornamented leaves; a line is engraved over the ‘n’ and ‘t’ in pnte]
Condition: two fold lines. Verso: some offsetting from another map; remains from a paper mount or guard.
17.0 x 21.4 cm (image)
cropped (platemark)
17.9 x 22.2 cm (sheet)
Printed title:
SEBENICO El contado citta / nella Dalmatia confináte con Zarra / dli Ill.mi S.ri Ven.ni al pnte da / Turchi molestado: i57i: - [bottom right, in a cartouche with ornamented leaves; a line is engraved over the ‘n’ and ‘t’ in pnte]
Annotations:
George III heading: Sebenico 1571.
Other annotations: (Verso) [top left, black pencil:] 1/56; [top, in black paint or ink, perhaps the same ink or paint as the black border to the print:] V Z 83; [top, left of centre, red pencil:] 1/48*2; [top left, black pencil, erased:] I/52 [right, red pencil, cropped:] 1571; [bottom right, black pencil:] 55.
George III catalogue entry:
Sebenico Sebenico et Contado Citta, nella Dalmatia confinãte con Zarra, da Turchi molestado, 1571.
Subject(s)
Šibenik, Šibensko-Kniniska, Croatia (43°43ʹ38ʺN 15°54ʹ21ʺE)
Bibliographic reference(s)
G. Tolias, ‘Isolarii, fifteenth to seventeenth century’, History of Cartography, vol. III, Part 1, Chicago 2007, p. 273
M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. no. 2702
R. Shirley, Maps in the atlases of the British Library; a descriptive catalogue c.A.D. 8501800, 2 vols, London 2004, T.CAM-1a and 1b
Page revisions
25 May 2024
Current version
