Bonifacio Cyprus

By BONIFACIO, Natale, 1568 

Isola di Cipro. 

Europe Greece
  • Author: BONIFACIO, Natale
  • Publication place: Venice
  • Publication date: c.1568.
  • Physical description: Engraved map.
  • Dimensions: 155 by 205mm. (6 by 8 inches).
  • Inventory reference: 12167

Notes

This map of Cyprus was printed as a single sheet by Natale Bonifacio, whose monogram appears at the bottom left. The cartography is attributed to a Venetian mapmaker, Felice Brunello, about whom very little is known. Although it is undated, Bonifacio published a series of maps showing Aegean and Ionian islands from 1567 to 1568, indicating that this map was published around then.

Natale Bonifacio (1537–1592) was a Dalmatian engraver, publisher and cosmographer, who worked in Venice from c.1570–74 and then in Rome from 1575–91. He was a member of the Virtuosi del Pantheon and the Confraternity of San Girolamo degli Illirici. Bonifacio specialised in maps, antiquities, devotional and didactic subjects.

Very rare; there is a single institutional example at the Bayerisches Staatsbibliothek. One example was sold as part of a composite Lafreri atlas at Sotheby’s, London in 1991 for £3,850, and another was sold individually at Sotheby’s, London in 1993 for £1,782.

Bibliography

  1. Navari, 66, 16
    • Navari, Leonora. (2003). Maps of Cyprus. Nicosia: Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation.
  2. Meurer, Strabo, 96
    • Meurer, Peter. (2004). The Strabo Illustratus Atlas. Bedburg-Hau: Antiquariat Gebr. Haas OHG.
  3. Stylianou 45
    • Stylianou, A. and Stylianou, J.A. (1980). The history of the cartography of Cyprus. Nicosia: Zavallis Press.
  4. Zacharakis 219.
    • Zacharakis, C. (1982). A Catalogue of printed maps of Greece 1477–1800. Nicosia: AG Leventis Foundation.
  5. Sweet Land of Cyprus, 8
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