Ottoman-Habsburg Wars (1521-1791)
Images from eight wars fought between 1570 and 1718
Préveza and the Gulf of Arta, 1538
LA DIMOSTRATIONE DEL...
1538 or laterEtching with engraving; printed on paper; mounted on paper (Mount Type A); gilt edges to left, bottom, and right | Scale: not stated. Not to scale. | RCIN 721009
A high oblique view of the naval battle of Preveza, fought on 27/28 September 1538 between the Turkish fleet, commanded by Admiral, Khair ed-Din [Hayreddin Barbarossa c.1478-1546), and the ships of the Holy League (Republic of Venice, Spain, Papal States, Genoa, Knights of Malta), commanded by the Genovese Admiral Andrea Doria (30 November 1466-25 November 1560), resulting in a Turkish victory. The Ottoman Empire 1500-1606: Conflicts in the Mediterranean (1532-1565). Oriented with north to top.
The title of this view points out that, apart from showing the then current naval battle, it also represents the Gulf of Arta, known in ancient times as the Gulf of Ambracio, named after the city of Ambracia [Arta] which became the capital of Pyrrhus, King of Epirus (319/318-272BC), and the promontory of Actium which was the scene of the memorable victory of Octavian (later called Augustus) against Anthony and Cleopatra on 2 September 31 BC. Ruins of the ancient temple of Apollo at Actium are marked as ‘TENPIO D’APOLLINE’.
The place-names are printed from punched letters. Three conventions have been use to represent water: 1) calm waters of inlets are shown with parallel dashed lines; 2) the quieter waters around the coasts are shown with narrow parallel lines and 3) the rough waters of the more open seas are distinguished by representations of waves.
The figure ‘37’ is printed in the sea, top right, above the large ship which lies below the town of Ambraci; there appears to be no explanation of what this represents.
Anonymous (cartographer)
Watermark: Tulips in circle surmounted by four-pointed star [see Woodward nos 119/120]
Condition: the print was formerly folded once, it was then cropped to the edge of the image before mounting; mount formerly folded once, the fold line is not coincident with print fold; the view is either printed from a worn plate (much of the detail, bottom centre, is faint), or the surface of the print itself is worn and rubbed; creased; an impression from the mount of an item which was kept above this map in a former sequence is present on the recto; surface dirt and some foxing to the mount
Scale: not stated. Not to scale
29.6 x 43.3 cm (image and sheet)
cropped (platemark)
41.1 x 54.9 cm (mount)
Printed title:
LA DIMOSTRATIONE DEL LVOGO DOVE AL / PRESENTE SITROVA L'ARMAT DI BARBAROSSA, ET / DE CHRISTIANI DETTO IL GOLFO DELL' ARTHA / ANTICHAMENTE IL SENO AMBRACIO, DA AMBRA / CIA CITTA REALE DI PYIRRHO, VICINO AL / PROMONTORIO ACTIO PER LAVICTORIA DI / AVGVSTO CONTR' AMARC' ANTONIO ET / CLEOPATRA, MEMORABILE [top left, punch-lettered text in cartouche]
Annotations:
George III heading [along left side of mount:] Naval Engagement between the Turks and Venetians in 1538 near the Gulf of Arta on the west coast of Greece.
Other annotations: (Recto) [bottom right, black pencil:] 1538. (Verso) [on mount, top left, red pencil:] 1/7; [on mount, top left, black pencil:] I/10.
George III catalogue entry:
Naval Engagement La Dimostratione del Luogo dove al presente si trova l’Armat di Barbarossa et de Christiani (1538) detto il Golfo dell’Artha.
Subject(s)
Préveza, Epirus, Greece (38°57ʹ00ʺN 20°45ʹ00ʺE)
[Ambracian Gulf; Gulf of Actium] Amvrakikós Kólpos, Gulf of, Greece (39°00ʹ00ʺN 21°00ʹ00ʺE)
Bibliographic reference(s)
BnF GE DD-1140 (56RES)
M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. no. 2643
F.B. Salvadori, Carte, piante e stampe storiche delle raccolte Lafreriane della Bibliotea nazionale di Firenze, Indici e Cataloghi Nuova Serie XI, Rome 1980 p.105, no. 241
R.V. Tooley, ‘Maps in Italian atlases of the sixteenth century, being a comparative list of the Italian maps issued by Lafreri, Forlani, Duchetti, Bertelli and others, found in atlases’, Imago Mundi III, 1939, pp. 12-47, no. 290. Examples of this map occur in Lafreri atlases: BL Maps C.7e.1(107) is printed from a less worn plate
T. Campbell, ‘Letter punches: a little-known feature of early engraved maps’, Print Quarterly IV, no.2, June 1987, pp. 151-154
R.E. Dupuy and T.N. Dupuy, The encyclopedia of military history from 3500BC to the present, revised edition, London 1980, pp. 114-5, 499
Page revisions
14 March 2024
Current version
