View of Milan

Perspective view of Milan - Author: Probst

Meyland, Mailand, and then Milan in German. Certainly not only the title of this canvas is German: as a matter of facts, it was printed by the Probst publishers, owners in the eighteenth century of a lively typography in Augsburg, Bavaria, from which were printed the wonderful perspective views of almost all the main European cities. Not only the printers were Teutonic: the designer who drew the silhouette of the Lombard capital with great elegance was also Teutonic. We are talking about Friedrich Bernhard Werner, a true master in this field, whose works have been often released to us.

Frankly speaking, this German perspective view of Milan has also the style or rather the taste of the usual Nordic habit of raising the towers and highlighting the domes, to bring Milan even closer to the cities properly Central European. In particular, this map was printed in 1730, portraying a city that is completely recognizable by the contemporary observer. The designer here emphasize the unmistakable Duomo, accompanied by the Castello Sforzesco and the many other bell towers which do not struggle to be recognized at the first sight. For the less expert observer, on the other hand, it is enough to rely on the rich legend below, with over 60 entries.

A perspective view of Hapsburg Milan

At the time of this prospective view, Milan was firmly in the hands of the Hapsburgs, whose dominion had been confirmed with the agreements of Utrecht and Rastatt. The German style, one might say, is therefore particularly suitable. As the most attentive observers will certainly noticing, this reproduction, to faithfully reproduce the eighteenth-century original, is made up of four distinct sheets of cotton, then mounted in detachments on canvas. The same publishers of the time habitually used this technique, to facilitate the transport and conservation of the canvases. But that's not all: like the original, this perspective view of Milan was also printed with a manual press, starting from copper matrices engraved by real artists in the sector.

*** Our canvases are printed with a hand press and are produced on request only. It takes about 10 days for the Black & White version and about 20 days for the Hand-painted.

Attention: the canvases are delivered without frame.