"Valletta Citta Nova di Malta", Merian, Matthaus

This stunning bird's-eye view of Malta's capital city features excellent detail of its famous fortifications and Baroque architecture. A key at top left identifies 41 sites of interest, including Saint John's Co-Cathedral, Grandmaster's Palace, and the Holy Infirmary. An inset map showing Malta and Gozo appears in a decorative cartouche at bottom right. There is a compass rose at right that orients the north to bottom right and includes at its center a small map of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, and Malta. A coat-of-arms completes the composition at bottom left.

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Condition: B+

A fine impression on a watermarked sheet with a few tiny holes along the centerfold at bottom that have been repaired on verso with archival materials. There are two damp stains and light soiling confined to the blank margins.