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Antique maps > europe > low countries - luxembourg > Antique view of Luxembourg by Braun and Hogenberg

Lucenburgum Urbs eiusdem nominis Ducatus primaria et Tribunam supremum, montoso inaequali situ spectabilis. - Braun & Hogenberg, 1598.



Antique map with two bird's-eye views of Luxemburg by Braun and Hogenberg + depiction of a stone column at right.

TRANSLATION OF CARTOUCHE TEXT: Luxembourg, capital with the supreme court of the Duchy of the same name, is worth seeing for its mountainous and uneven location.

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN (on verso): "In this city is a magnificent Franciscan monastery, whose foundation stone is supposed to have been laid during the time of St Francis. There is also another splendid monastery, which is generally called the minster. From this minster one gradually climbs up to the New Town. For the Old Town lies down below in a deep valley to the left of the cliff and is now considered to be the suburb. For as it was difficult to defend it was gradually found to be better to build the city higher up. ..."

The present illustration shows the city in cavalier perspective from the east. The location of the Upper Town, perched on a rocky plateau high above the steep-sided Alzette Valley, is clearly portrayed. The tower appearing at the bottom of the top illustration forms part of the palace illustrated separately below, which today lies in the Luxembourg suburb of Clausen. Seen here from the east, the palace and its magnificent formal gardens were the residence of Peter Ernst I of Mansfeld, commander of the Spanish armies in the Netherlands from 1545 to 1604 and during this same period governor of Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Brussels. The caption in the picture emphasizes the magnificence of the palace interior: "... admirable for its outstanding paintings and antiquities".

IGEL COLUMN (IGELER SÄULE)

CAPTION: A monument in Igel famed for its venerable age, about one mile from Trier in the direction of Luxembourg, 12 feet wide at the base and 72 feet high. There is almost none lovelier this side of the Alps.

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "On the Moselle, in Igel, one mile from Trier in the direction of Luxembourg, is an old monument or tomb that is almost intact, such as is not often seen even in Italy, the homeland of antiquities."

The right-hand illustration shows the Igel column, a 23-m-high Roman funerary monument of red sandstone dating from the middle of the 3rd century AD. The column was erected by the Secundinii family of cloth merchants and its decorative reliefs include scenes from their daily lives. The column is the oldest monument of its kind north of the Alps and is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Taschen)

Copper engraving
Size: 36.5 x 46.5cm (14.2 x 18.1 inches)
Verso text: Latin
Condition: Old coloured, small repair at centrefold.
Condition Rating: B+
References: Van der Krogt 4, 2515; Taschen, Braun and Hogenberg, p.376.

From: Civitates Orbis Terrarum, ... Part 5. Köln, 1598.

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Item number: 22076
Price: 1100 Euro

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