Jun 03, 2014 - Sale 2352

Sale 2352 - Lot 36

Price Realized: $ 10,625
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 15,000 - $ 25,000
A HANDSOME ITALIAN MAP OF CYPRUS (CYPRUS.) Camocio, Giovani Francesco. Cyprus, insula nobilissima. Engraved map of Cyprus. 385x525 mm, wide original margins; a few faint blemishes and easily removed soiling, otherwise an exceptional example. Venice, "ad signum Pyramidis," 1566
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Additional Details

An impressive and scarce map with special relevance for this crucial time in Venetian history. Camocio's Cyprus was published in Venice in 1566 amidst ever-increasing fear of an Ottoman invasion of the island. Cyprus had been a Venetian possession since 1489, and at the end of the 1560s and the beginning of the 1570s it became the flashpoint in a pivotal war between the Ottomans and Catholic European forces. When Camocio's map was published, Venice still controlled Cyprus, however it would be invaded and sacked by the Ottomans in 1570-71.

The surrounding sea is filled with monsters and sailing vessels. The cartouche is surmounted by the Lion of Saint Mark, reiterating Venetian control of the island. Stylianou 30, figure 36; Tooley, Italian Atlases, 183; Woodward 48 (ascribed to Forlani).