Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg

This 16th century hand-colored map of the Italian city of Genoa, Genua, from the famous city Atlas Civitate Orbis Terrarum, the greatest book of town views of that time, edited by the German Georg Braun (1541-1622) and the engraver, mapmaker and painter Franz Hogenberg (circa 1540, circa 1590). The port and city of Genoa are presented from an ideal, elevated viewpoint from the south. Birthplace of Columbus in 1451, the city as featured here in 1574 still held an important economic position within Europe’s ruling houses. A principal port city and shipping center, Genoa was also home to the Banco di San Giorgio, founded in 1407, the oldest chartered bank in Europe and the world. The Bank served as financier to many European monarchs throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, gaining widespread influence. Ferdinand and Isabella...

Antique map of Africa titled 'Aden, Arabiae Foelicis Emporium Celeberrimi Nominis, quo ex India, Aethiopia (..)'. Four bird's-eye views on one sheet. The largest view shows Aden (Yem...