Maps as symbols of power: Gallery of Maps, Vatican Palace, 1580-83

Image 1. In 1580, Pope Gregory XIII commissioned a comprehensive series of painted topographical maps of the Italian peninsula to decorate a 120-metre long gallery – the Galleria delle carte geografiche – on the west side of the Belvedere Courtyard in the Vatican Palace. The 40 separate frescoed panels, based on drawings by friar and geographer Ignazio Danti, required three years to complete (1580–1583).

Image 2. Thirty-four of the maps of the maps depict the major regions of Italy and the surrounding islands. One side depicts regions west of the Appenines bordering on the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Seas, including Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily. The other side depicts regions to the east of the Appenines in bordering the Adriatic. For each region, the principal city is also depicted. This map depicts Sicily.

Image 3. Two general maps follow, one of ‘Ancient Italy’ (with the inscription “Commendatur Italia locorum salubritate, coeli temperie, soli ubertate”), the other of modern Italy (with the inscription “Italia artium studiorumque plena semper est habita”).

Image 4. At the beginning and at the end of the gallery are found detailed representations of the four major ports of sixteenth-century Italy: Venice, Ancona, Genoa and Civitavecchia.

Further resources. A brief video on the restoration of the gallery can be found here.

Commentary. Howard Hotson (May 2021)