MERIAN

CONSTANTINOPOLTANAE URBIS EFFIGIES AD VIVUM EXPRESSA, QUAM TURCAE STAMPOLDAM VOCANT
A° MDCXXXV.

MERIAN, Matthaus

1635, Frankfurt

22.8 x 69.5 cm.

Large, decorative view of the city of Constantinople, with legend across the bottom. It is beautifully engraved with quaint scenes of everyday life, including hunters with their dogs in the near foreground. Across the Golden Horn the various palaces, mosques and principal buildings.
Copper engraving, printed from 2 plates and originally mounted, by Matthäus Merian.

MERIAN, Matthaus (1593-1650), sometimes referred to as ‘the Elder’ to distinguish from his son, was an important Swiss engraver and cartographer active in the early mid 17th century. Merian was born in Basel and studied engraving in the centers of Zurich, Strasbourg, Nancy and Paris. Merian is best known for his finely engraved and highly detailed town plans and city views. Merian is considered one of the grand masters of the city view and a pioneer of the axonometric projection. Merian died in 1650 following several years of illness. He was succeeded in the publishing business by his two sons, Matthaus and Caspar, who published his great works, THE TOPOGRAPHIA and THEATRUM ERUOPEAUM…