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THE VATICAN GALLERY OF MAPS

ROME

IMAGE NUMBER 1013a

The Gallery of Maps is a gallery located on the west side of the Belvedere Courtyard in the Vatican containing a series of painted topographical maps of Italy based on drawings by friar and geographer Ignazio Danti. The gallery was commissioned in 1580 by Pope Gregory XIII as part of other artistic works commissioned by the Pope to decorate the Vatican. It took Danti three years (1580–1583) to complete the 40 panels of the 120 m long gallery. The panels map the entirety of the Italian peninsula in large-scale frescoes, 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.

TECHNICAL NOTES

The image was taken with a hand-held Phase One 645XF Camera at ISO 800. Exposure of 1/125th of a second and an aperture of f4. Schneider Kreuznach 45 mm lens with leaf shutter. The image was captured on a Phase One IQ3 100 megapixel digital back.