Gallery of Maps

Galleria delle carte geografiche
Ceiling of the Gallery
Gallery of Maps Location within Vatican City
Established	1580; 446 years ago (1580)
Location	Vatican City
Founder	Pope Gregory XIII
Owner	Holy See
Website	museivaticani.va

TheGallery of Maps^[1] (Italian:Galleria delle carte geografiche) is a gallery located on the west side of theBelvedere Courtyard in theVatican containing a series of painted topographical maps ofItaly based on drawings by friar and geographerIgnazio Danti.^[1]

The gallery was commissioned in 1580 byPope Gregory XIII as part of other artistic works commissioned by thePope to decorate theVatican. It took Danti three years (1580–1583) to complete the 40 panels of the 120 m long gallery. The painter wasAntonio Danti, brother ofIgnazio.

The panels map the entirety of the Italian peninsula in large-scalefrescoes, each depicting a region as well as a perspective view of its most prominent city. It is said that these maps are approximately 80% accurate.

With theApennines as a partition, one side depicts the regions surrounded by theLigurian andTyrrhenian Seas and the other depicts the regions surrounded by theAdriatic Sea.

If noted the map shows the Italian geographic region and not the current Italian state. Below is a list of the maps in the gallery.^[2]

Right wall (eastern regions)

• Two maps ofApulia:
  • Salentina Hydrunti terra, that is, southern Apulia, including the Salento peninsula,
  • Apulia, that is, the Tavoliere and Gargano regions;
• one map ofAbruzzo:
  • Aprutium, with a representation of the city ofL'Aquila;
• three maps ofMarche:
  • Ager anconitanus, that is, the territory ofAncona, with the map of Loreto (the representation ofAncona appears among the views of themain port cities of the 16th century),
  • Picenum, that is, the Marches south of Fano, with a representation of the city ofMacerata,
  • Urbini ducatus, that is, theDuchy of Urbino, with maps ofUrbino andPesaro.
• four maps ofEmilia-Romagna:
  • Flaminia, i.e.,Romagna, with the map ofRimini;
  • Bononiensis ditio, i.e., the territory ofBologna, with the map ofBologna;
  • Ferrariae ducatus, i.e., the Duchy of Ferrara, with the map ofFerrara;
  • Placentiae et Parmae ducatus, i.e., theDuchy of Parma and Piacenza, with the maps ofParma andPiacenza;
• two maps ofVeneto,Trentino-Alto Adige, andFriuli-Venezia Giulia:
  • Forum Iulii, that is, the Venetian coast, Friuli, Venezia Giulia, and part of Trentino-Alto Adige (the representation ofVenice is among the views of themain port cities of the 16th century);
  • Transpadana Venetorum ditio, that is, western Veneto, with maps ofVicenza andPadua;
• two maps ofLombardy:
  • Mantuae ducatus, that is, theDuchy of Mantua, with a map ofMantua;
  • Mediolanensis ducatus, that is, theDuchy of Milan, with a map ofMilan;
• a map ofPiedmont and theAosta Valley:
  • Pedemontium et Monsferratus, with a plan ofTurin.

Left wall (western regions)

• A map ofLiguria:
  • Liguria (the representation ofGenoa is among the views of themain port cities of the 16th century);
• a map ofTuscany:
  • Etruria, with maps ofFlorence,Livorno, andSiena;
• two maps ofUmbria:
  • Perusinus ac Tifernas, i.e., the territory ofPerugia andCittà di Castello, with a map ofPerugia,
  • Umbria, i.e., southern Umbria, with a map ofSpoleto;
• two maps ofLatium:
  • Latium et Sabina, i.e., theRoman Campagna and theSabina, with a map ofRome,
  • Patrimonium Sancti Petri, i.e., northern Latium, with maps ofViterbo andOrvieto;
• two maps ofCampania:
  • Campania, meaning Northern Campania, with a plan ofNaples,
  • Principatus Salerni, meaning thePrincipality of Salerno;
• one map ofBasilicata:
  • Lucania;
• two maps ofCalabria:
  • Calabria citerior, meaning northern Calabria,
  • Calabria ulterior, meaning southern Calabria;
• one map ofSicily:
  • Sicilia, with plans ofPalermo,Syracuse andMessina;
• one map ofSardinia:
  • Sardinia;
• one map ofCorsica:
  • Corsica;

one map of the territory ofAvignon and theComtat Venaissin:

• • Avenionensis ditio et Venaisinus comitatus.

After the series of regional maps, there are two general geographical maps:

• Ancient Italy (with the inscriptionItalia antiqua - Commendatur Italia locorum salubritate, coeli temperie, soli ubertate)
• Modern Italy (with the inscriptionItalia nova - Italia artium studiorumque plena semper est habita).

Main Italian ports of the 16th century:Venice,Ancona, andGenoa (Civitavecchia is not shown)

Perspective views of major 16th-century Italian ports are grouped at one end of the gallery. They possess significant artistic value and even offer glimpses into the lives of these cities during the Renaissance.^[2]

• Venice, Adriatic port city and capital of themaritime republic of the same name (Republic of Venice);
• Ancona, principal Adriatic port of the Papal States and formermaritime republic (Republic of Ancona);
• Genoa, Tyrrhenian port city and capital of themaritime republic of the same name (Republic of Genoa);
• Civitavecchia, principal Tyrrhenian port of the Papal States.

At the other end, you will find maps of theTremiti Islands, the island ofElba (with the map ofPortoferraio),Corfu andMalta (with the map ofValletta).

The decorations on the vaulted ceiling are the work of a group ofMannerist artists includingCesare Nebbia andGirolamo Muziano.

The gallery once displayed the so-calledAzuchi Screens, who were gifted by the Japanese shogunOda Nobunaga to Pope Gregory XIII in 1585.^[3]

• 
  Coat of arms ofPope Gregory XIII andPope Urban VIII
• 
  Saint Paul being bitten by a viper
• 
  Siege of Malta
• 
  Coat of Arms ofPope Paul V
• 
  Painting of Jesus andLazarus

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• Media related toGallery of Geographical Maps (Vatican Museums) at Wikimedia Commons

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