Old Maps: Rome

A companion to Abraham Ortelius’ groundbreaking world atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570), the Civitates Orbis Terrarum (1572-1617) is a six-volume compendium of city maps by Georg Braun, Frans Hogenberg and Simon Novellanus. Rome features in full glory:

Rome (Roma), by Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg, 1572.
(Available in high resolution at Antiquariaat Sanderus.)

To the north—on the left—, Castel Sant’Angelo towers over the Tiber. The Egyptian obelisk, soon to become an eye catcher at the centre of St. Peter’s Square, still marks the spot of the Circus of Nero (slightly above the lower left corner).

French engraver, painter and architect Étienne Dupérac provides a more detailed snapshot.

Top right section of Nova Urbis Romae Descriptio, Étienne Dupérac, ca. 1577.
(Full map available in high resolution at Heidelberg University Library.)

Just visible in the bottom of the image, the Passetto di Borgo (800 m/2.624 ft) connects the Holy See (top) to Castel Sant’Angelo (out of frame). A small monument features in the courtyard of St. Peter’s Basilica, right in front of the Holy See.

Drawing by G. A. Dosio (1533-1609), ca. 1575, Uffizi, Florence.
From C. Huelsen, “Der Cantharus von Alt-St.-Peter und die antiken Pignen-Brunnen”
Romische Mitteilungen 19 (1904), 88-102. Fig. 1, p. 89.
(Available, with other drawings, at Archive.org.)

It’s a large bronze pinecone guarded by peacocks. Accounts and illustrations vary as to whether it is placed next to a fountain—or is itself a fountain. The Musei Vaticani testifies to the second version: “It was a fountain in which pilgrims could wash themselves formed of the great bronze pine cone”. Moved in 1608, it now adorns the Courtyard of the Pinecone in the Vatican Museums.

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