Poli Arctici, et Circumiacentium Terrarum Descriptio Novissima. Per Fredericum de Wit Amstelodami

• Main Author: Wit, Frederick de (1629-1706)
• Format: Map
• Language: unknown
• Published: Frederic M. DeWit 1690
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~358158~90125089; https://media.davidrumsey.com/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size4/RUMSEY~8~1/213/15889029.jpg

"A Handsome, Beautifully Colored Example, Employing A Rarely Seen Grisaille Color Scheme This sea atlas, produced by Frederick de Wit around 1690 in Amsterdam, is a beautiful example of late 17th-century Dutch cartography, comprising 27 double-page engraved maps with unusual and attractive original hand-color. Featuring a double-hemisphere world map (Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula, ex officina F. de Wit., Shirley 444) and a large folding map of Europe (Totius Europae Littora Novissme edita.), the atlas provides a detailed representation of the world's seas and continents as understood during a pivotal period of exploration and colonization. Frederick de Wit is recognized as one of the foremost map publishers of the second half of the 17th century, with his works prized for their clarity, detail, and aesthetic appeal. This is a rare, separate issue of De Wit's sea atlas, typically encountered as part of his larger atlas compilations. The atlas includes an allegorical engraved frontispiece from Johannes van Keulen's "Zee-Fakkel" and is complemented by six leaves of text, possibly added at an early date for a private collector. For this example of the atlas, the colorist employed an unusual artistic coloring style called "grisaille." While geographical features of the map are colored in a traditional scheme of the period, the cartouches are done in the grisaille style, employing blue-greys, and gold hues. Traditionally, the use of grisaille showcased the artists' mastery in tone and texture from the medieval era to the Renaissance. Among the earliest examples of this technique is the work of Giotto di Bondone, who employed grisaille in the lower registers of his frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, around 1304. This technique marked a departure from the flat styles of medieval art and foreshadowed the Italian Renaissance. In the 15th century, Early Dutch painters like Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck used grisaille on the exteriors of triptych wings, as seen in the Ghent Altarpiece, as a means of imitating the ...