Lot 118: NOLLI, Giovanni Battista (ca 1692-1756). Nuova Pianta di Roma . Rome: n.p., 1748.

NOLLI, Giovanni Battista (ca 1692-1756). Nuova Pianta di Roma. Rome: n.p., 1748.

2υo (478 x 365 mm). Engraved wall map of Rome. The sheets comprising: engraved title, engraved "Avviso al lettore", an index on 8 engraved sheets, the map of Rome on 12 double-page sheets including vignettes of allegorical figures after Stefano Pozzi together with Rome's monuments, and the dedication to Pope Benedetto XIV on the base of a column, the map set in an elaborate rococo border, 2 double-page engraved maps of Rome depicting the city in "modern" times and a similar map of ancient times (indexes and maps numbered 1-36). (Some light browning and staining, a few leaves dampstained). Modern half leather and boards.

THE FINEST OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY PLANS OF ROME and the first plan of the city based upon geodesic principles. Along with Rocque's plan of London and Bretez's plan of Paris, Nolli's plan ranks as one of the greatest eighteenth century plans of any European city. The lower sheets are almost entirely taken up by lavish, finely-engraved ornamentation in the style of Piranesi. In the lower left corner is a montage of classical landmarks, including the Colosseum, Arch of Constantine, the Forum and Trajan's Column, before which are allegorical figures including Romulus and Remus in the form of broken ancient statuary. The lower right corner contains an allegorical representation of the Church seated before Michaelangelo's assemblage of buildings on the Capitoline Hill. Frutaz Le Piante de Roma CLXIX.