A bird’s-eye view of Florence taken from the north-west, showing the city encircled by the medieval walls with the river Arno flowing through and the hills in the background.

The view draws upon the work of the Florentine Francesco Rosselli, who had produced a famous map of the city, ‘the Chain Map’ of Florence, in the second half of the fifteenth century. The work owes its name to the padlocked chain framing the view; the city is shown with a slightly altered urban layout, thus allowing for the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, with its newly built dome by Brunelleschi, to be in the centre, and the façades of the monuments to be seen frontal.

Duchetti probably follows a view of the city attributed to Paolo Forlani from 1567, repeating its errors and distortions and using the coats-of-arms of the Medici and of the city in the same positions. Born in France under the name of Claude Duchet, he was active in Venice c1565-1572 and subsequently in Rome. He was the nephew and part successor to Antonio Lafreri’s publishing firm upon the latter’s death in 1577.

The plate, here in its first state, was purchased by Giovanni Orlandi in 1602 who republished it with the edited imprint; it then went to Hendrick van Schoel; and finally to Francesco de Paoli, though no example exists.