Other 17th-century conflicts
Printed and manuscript maps, prints and views of 22 seventeenth-century wars
Siege of Vercelli, 1617
published 1617Etching and engraving; printed on paper; mounted on paper (Mount Type A); gilt edges top, right and bottom | Scale: Scale bar: Scala di pasi [35 mm =] 500 | RCIN 721137
A high oblique view/map of the successful Spanish siege of Savoyard Vercelli from 24 May to 26 July 1617. The Spanish were commanded by Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, 5th Marquis of Villafranca and Governor of Milan (6 September 1546-17 July 1627). Montferrat War of Succession (1613-1630). Oriented with east to top (cardinal points).
See the notes to RCIN 721136.
This view is centred on Vercelli the walls of which are drawn three-dimensionally while the buildings are shown in plan form en bloc. Parts of the lines of circum- and contravallation are depicted, together with the Spanish approach trenches and the positions of their batteries.
Felice Floriani (d.1630?) (engraver) [right centre, above key:] felix florianus sculp: 1617.
Pietro Paulo Floriani (1585-1638) (dedicator) [bottom centre, in cartouche:] Pietro Paulo Floriani.
Watermark: A five-tined crown with a six-pointed star above
Condition: one fold line; some brown discolouration to map and mount; mount trimmed; re-used Mount Type A; printed from a worn and dirty copperplate; some offsetting from a different mount
Scale: Scale bar: Scala di pasi [35 mm =] 500
38.4 x 37.8 cm (image and sheet)
cropped (platemark)
54.8 x 41.1 cm (mount)
Printed title:
No title. [The name ‘VERCELLI’ is engraved in the centre of the depiction of the walled town.]
Dedication:
[bottom centre, in cartouche surmounted by the coat of arms of the Marchese di Monte Negro:] All’ Ill.mo et Ecc.mo Sigre il Sig.re Marches di Monte Negro / Ma.ro di Camp Generale per S. M.ta Catt.ca / L’obligo grande, che tengo a’ S. Ecc.a p esser statto trattato non solo come ser.re / che li son, ma come figliuolo hauendomi datto occasione d’auanzarini, come / ultimam.te diede a’ mio carico le fortificationi d’Alemani, mi ha spinto far questa / picciola fatica di porre alla stampa qesto assedio, accio’ sia palesato in tutte / le parti le fatiche fatte da S. Ecc.a Gradisca dunque questo picciol segno / al grande desiderio, che tengo di seruirla / D.S.S. Ill.ma et Ecc.ma / Humil. Seru.re / Pietro Paulo Floriani.
Additional text:
[bottom left, in rectangular panel, a key, A-I, L-T, V, X, to places on the map; and another key, 2-3 to military events which is continued, bottom right, in a rectangular panel, 4-14, to the sequence of events.]
Annotations:
George III heading: Vercelli 1617.
Other annotations: (Recto) [top right, black pencil:] 1617. (Verso) [bottom centre, red pencil:] 1/118; [bottom centre, black pencil:] I [or II]/122.
George III catalogue entry:
Vercelli A Plan of Vercelli besieged and taken by the Spaniards in 1617: by Florianus, 1617.
Subject(s)
Vercelli, Piedmont, Italy (45°19ʹ17ʺN 08°25ʹ11ʺE)
Bibliographic reference(s)
M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. no. 2819
Page revisions
14 March 2024
Current version
