Grenoble & Romans-sur-Isère. - Gratianopolis Acusianoru Colonia, ... [on sheet with] Romans Delfinatus vulgo Daufine in Gallia Oppidu.

Fine antique copper engraved sheet with two bird's-eye views/plans by Braun and Hogenberg: Grenoble & Romans-sur-Isère from the third volume of Braun & Hogenberg's "Civitas Orbis Terrarum. " Latin text to verso.

GRENOBLE

TRANSLATION OF CARTOUCHE TEXT: Gratianopolis, colony of Acusiana or Acusianorum Colonia, a formidably fortified city in Gallia Narbonensis, on the Isère, today called Grenoble.

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Its ancient shape is more elongated than wide, it tapers towards a point and assumes the overall shape of an egg. Lying on level ground at the foot of the mountains, it extends towards the east ...; the Isère, which flows down from the tops of the Swiss mountains to the east, runs through the city. Toward the north a very beautiful bridge leads over the Isère to the suburb that is called St Lawrence."

Grenoble, situated at the foot of the French Alps, is seen from an elevated viewpoint from the north. The city is protected by - as Braun describes it - an egg-shaped inner and rectangular outer city wall. Numerous churches and towers, their verticals greatly exaggerated, dominate the cityscape; they include the 12th-century cathedral of Notre-Dame in the background and, in the foreground, the collegiate church of Saint-André. Facing the latter is the Palace of Justice with its several towers directly overlooking the river. The city was purportedly renamed Gratianopolis in AD 377 in honour of Emperor Gratian.

ROMANS-SUR-ISÈRE

CARTOUCHE: Romans delfinatus, also Daufine, a city in Gaul.

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "The small town of Romans lies directly beside the Isère and is famous for its beauty amongst the cities in the lower reaches of the Dauphiné. Its name is also evidence that it was built either by the Romans or by those of Roman descent."

A large number of the plates were engraved after the original drawings of Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600), who was a professional artist. The first volume was published in Latin in 1572, the sixth volume in 1617. Frans Hogenberg created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel created those for volumes V and VI. Other contributors were cartographer Daniel Freese, and Heinrich Rantzau.
Works by Jacob van Deventer, Sebastian Münster, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Translations appeared in German and French.

Reference: Van der Krogt 4, 1634, st.1; Taschen, Braun and Hogenberg, p.214.