VALLETTA CITTA NOVA DI MALTA

At the top, in a ribbon under the upper edge, the title is impressed: VALLETTA CITTA NOVA DI MALTA. In the upper left-hand corner, a large cartouche reads: LUOGHI NOTABILI DELLA CITTA VALLETTA. A numerical legend of 56 references to notable places and monuments follows, arranged in two columns. At the bottom of the cartouche also two brief geographical information on the city: Il Circuito della Muraglia della Citta è can[n]e della misura di Sicilia n.°2010. Et La superficie del terreno dentro la Citta è can[n]e quadre n.°148885.  In the oval cartouche at the bottom right, the cartographic representation of the Maltese archipelago, oriented by means of a wind rose with north at the bottom. Also present, always in the cartouche and referring to the geographical map of the archipelago, is the graphic scale Scala of ten miles equal to 33 mm. In the sea, a wind rose, with north at the bottom, provides orientation to the map of Valletta. On the left the coat of arms of Alof de Wignacourt (1547-1622) Grand Master of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem from 1601 to 1622.

“Perspective plan, anonymous, without date and editorial indications. The work is based on the map that Francesco Villamena engraved (1602) from the drawing sent with the letter from the Knight of Malta fra Francesco dell'Antella to Giacomo Bosio, dated 1 September 1600. The plan was published in Bosio's book Dell'Istoria della Sacra Religione et Ill.ma Militia di San Giovanni Gierosolimitano, Parte Terza, printed in Rome by Guglielmo Facciotto in 1602 and dedicated to the Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt, whose family crest also appears in the panel. In the upper right corner, the text of the letter from Francesco dell'Antella is engraved. The attribution of this anonymous copy, without the letter to Bosio, to Matteo Florimi is proposed by Van der Heijden and then by Boffa, while Ganado, who does not go too far in attributions, considers it probable that it was printed in Rome between 1602 and 1622. The example in his possession comes from a factual collection which mostly included works printed by Giovanni Orlandi, but also seventeen plates signed by Florimi. However, he argues that Florimi cannot be the publisher of this plate since his death (1613) coincides with the expiry of the decennial privilege of the Villamena map. The history of Florimi's publishing activity, however, teaches us how often he violated the right of exclusivity of printing guaranteed by the privilege. The second state of the plate, printed in Siena by Filippo Succhielli, in our opinion confirms that it was Matteo Florimi himself who published this pirated copy of the map of Valletta, probably in the same year as the model. The edition of Succhielli (d. 1682), unchanged apart from the editorial imprint, can be dated to the second half of the 17th century” (cf. Cartografia e Topografia Italiana del XVI secolo, p. 1796).

Etching and engraving, printed on contemporary laid paper with "eagle in circle with crown" watermark (similar to Woodward n. 64), with margins, restorations in the central fold, otherwise in good condition.

Very rare work, recorded for only 3 institutional examples according Bifolco-Ronca (cf. Cartografia e Topografia Italiana del XVI secolo, p. 1796).

Matteo Florimi (Polistena c. 1540 - Siena 1613) was a publisher and merchant of books and prints. Of Calabrian origin, he settled in Siena in 1581, with a store “in Banchi”. Matteo Florimi's chalcographic activity was several times joined by master engravers such as Cornelis Galle, Arnoldo Arnoldi, Pieter de Iode, Jan Sadeler and artists such as Francesco Vanni, Ventura Salimbeni and Alessandro Casolani, with whom the printer collaborated in the preparation of religious subjects. Florimi's cartographic activity produced prints of many cities and territories around the world, which were never drawn for him, but were manipulations of already existing reliefs, or of maps published by other printers. In the second half of the sixteenth century, Florimi was far-sighted in devoting himself to the production of bird's-eye views of cities as faithfully as possible.  Florimi copied some maps by Antonio Lafreri, Claude Duchet, Abraham Ortelius. As far as map engraving work was concerned, in 1600, Matteo Florimi called the Flemish engraver Arnoldo degli Arnoldi to work in his workshop with the promise of greater compensation than that bestowed upon him by Giovanni Antonio Magini, with whom the artist was working. This offer by Florimi triggered the wrath of Magini, who, though not naming him, called him an "envious counterfeiter" for stealing such a skilled cartographer from him. The collaboration between Florimi and Arnoldi lasted only two years (1600-1602), but it was quite productive: together they printed the Stato di Siena, la Choronografia Tusciae, la Nuova descrittione della Lombardia, l’Europa, l’America and the Descrittione Universale della Terra.

Bibliografia

Bifolco-Ronca, Cartografia e Topografia Italiana del XVI secolo (2018), tav. 903, I/II; Elisa Boffa, Un tipografo calabrese a Siena: Matteo Florimi, in “Accademia dei Rozzi” (2013): II, n. 29; H.A.M. van der Heijden, Matteo Florimi (+1613) – Landkarten und Stadtplanverleger in Siena, in “Florilegium Cartographicum”, Lipsia (1993): n. 46; Ganado (2003): pp. 459-460, nn. 90-91, tav. 186.