Faenza, 1565 and 1630: Two Urban Representations Between the Council of Trent and the Italian Plague

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss two sixteenth- and seventeenth-century cartographic representations of the city of Faenza. In 1565, Terenzio Manzoni created a map of the city which is still preserved today. In this plan, the churches are represented in axonometry: it is therefore plausible that it was realized for religious purposes and it probably served as a topographical basis for the pastoral visits of Bishop Giovanni Battista Sighicelli. In 1630 Virgilio Rondinini drew a large map of the city; the purpose of this representation is to preserve the memory of the city of Faenza, in a moment when the town, like the whole Italian peninsula, was devastated by wars and plagues. The two cartographic representations show different purposes and approaches to the ecclesiastical power. The 1565 map is functional to a proper counter-reformed perspective, in which the episcopal power uses the religious feeling of the population for social and territorial control. The 1630 map, conversely, is surprisingly lacking in sacral connotations: it is likely that the author wanted to underline a purely political link between his family and his city and the family of the reigning pope, Urban VIII.