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Description

The First Printed Map of Benevento

Rare view of Benevento, Italy, published in Benevento, based upon a painting by the mannerist painter Donato Piperno completed in the second half of the 16th Century.

An important early view of the city before the disastrous 1688 earthquake which damaged the southern part of the city in particular. The cathedral is in the center. The Appian road is shown on the western side leading up to the San Lorenzo gate.

Originally engraved in the early 17th Century, the view shows the city inside a landscape laid out between the Sabato River and Calore River, looking southwest from Mount San Felice.  This view would the favored point of view of the city throughout the medieval period, which made this view the most recognizable “façade” of the city of Benevento over the time.

This façade would come to be known known to travelers, merchants and armies travelling through Benevento via the Via Appia, and would be the bird's eye perspective that would become the official "facade" of the city of Benevento and inspiration for later views, such as that found in GB Pacichelli, Luigi Rossini , Francesco La Marra, Robert Brandard, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and Saverio Pistolesi.

The present example references the earthquake of 1688, which decimated Benevento, but does not mention the earthquake of 1703.

Rarity

The view is very rare.  We were unable to find an example offered for sale or on OCLC, but did locate a reference to the map at Duke University.