[Map of León, Spain] Il Regno di Leone

Detailed map of the kingdom of León, published by the Italians Giacomo and Domenico de Rossi in Rome in 1696. Bounded by the border with Portugal to the west, Asturias to the north, Castilla la Vieja to the east and the city of Plasencia to the south. It identifies the cities of Salamanca, Palencia, Ciudad Rodrigo, Coria, among others. It was published in the Mercurio Geográfico. The title cartouche, located in the lower right, includes the Leonese coat of arms. The Kingdom of León was incorporated into the Crown of Castile in 1230. Giacomo Cantelli da Vignola (1643-1695) was an Italian engraver and cartographer. He had the opportunity to travel to France accompanying the French ambassador, where he met the cartographers Guillaume Sanson, Jacques-André Duval and Michel-Antoine Baudrand. It is very likely that the work of these figures inspired the style of Cantelli’s cartography. Back in Italy, he began to work in the service of Count Rinieri Marescotti, with whom he travelled throughout Italy. It was thus that he met the publisher Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi, with whom Cantelli began to publish his maps. Around 1680, Cantelli and Rossi began to publish the Mercurio Geográfico, a large-format atlas of the whole world. Cantelli’s work attracted the attention of Pope Innocent XI and of the Duke of Modena, and both offered him to be geographer to the court. Cantelli chose to work for the Duke, with whom he produced numerous maps and two large globes. Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi (1627-1691) was an Italian printer and engraver, active in Rome. He and his brother, Giandomenico (1619-1653), inherited their father’s prosperous publishing business and took it to new heights, printing the engravings of artists such as Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, Pietro Testa and Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi. The publishing house of these brothers had a long life; in 1738 it became the Calcografia Camerale, in 1870 the Regia Calcografica and from 1945 to the present it is known as the Calcografia Nazionale. It has one of the best collections of plates and prints in the world. Extended title: Il Regno di Leone, Descritto da Giacomo Cantelli da Vigna. Geografo del Sermo. Sigr. Duca di Modena.