Historic Map : RossiCantelli Map of Portugal, 1693, Vintage Wall Art

An exceptional 1692 map of the Kingdom of Portugal drawn in the Italian baroque style by Giacomo Cantelli da Vignola and Giacomo Giovanni Rossi. This extremely scarce map is without question one of the largest and most beautiful atlas maps of Portugal ever issued. The map covers Portugal from Vigo (Spain) to Capo di. S. Vincenzo (Cape St. Vincent) and eastward to the Gulf of Cadiz. Topography is rendered in profile. An explanation of the map appears at right center and a triple scale is presented in the lower right quadrant. The map features two elaborate cartouches. The first, appearing in the upper left quadrant features two mer-people supporting a modified scallop shell frame containing the a dedication to Fabrizio Spada (Fabrino Spada), cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church under Pope Innocent in xII. The primarily title cartouche is set in the lower left quadrant and features the royal crest of Portugal, a stately crown, angels, and still more scallop shells. Rossi prepared this map for inclusion in the 1692 second edition of the Mercurio Geografico, one of the finest Italian Baroque atlases ever issued. Engraved by Antonio Barbey.