Traversing the Art Legal System in Early Modern Venice: The Case of Antonio Floriano’s Mappamondo
- Sarah Alexis Rabinowe
- Jun 22, 2021
- 26 min read
Updated: Mar 30
The application of print privilege (pre-copyright) legislation to Venetian cartography came about by chance.[1] While the Venetian Republic was not the first state in Europe to construct a system of printing privileges, it was the earliest to grant limited monopolies for cartography and artwork. Intended originally for bestowing printed book privileges, the wording of the sixteenth century legislation and printing culture of Early Modern Venice enabled the expansion of the privilegio from texts to cartography, and, finally, to independent images. Print legislation decreed by the Venetian government did not differentiate between print categories: books, cartography and independent images. These classifications have since been projected onto the then singular medium. The laws only stipulated that compositions eligible for exclusive reproduction rights must be ‘works on paper’. The broad phrasing enabled a legal realist approach to requesting cartographical print privileges; a linguistic loophole. Rather than remain within the confines of the intended material—printed books—the government steadily began to receive an influx of applications for ‘works on paper’ of other types.
Throughout the sixteenth century, mappamondi (world maps) were often proposed for special protection by the Venetian Republic. In mid-1555, Floriano (d 1560/75) submitted a request to privilege a circular world map.[2] The Mappamondo (c 1556 or 1555 mv) was greatly inspired by ancient mathematical philosophy and by contemporaneous cartographical designs in an attempt to update the mapping of the globe (fig 1).[3] Although this map is far less well known than its primary source of inspiration, Gerard Mercator’s (1512-94) Orbis Imago (c 1538, fig 2) printed in Rupelmonde near Antwerp, Floriano’s Mappamondo is significant when examined in the context of Venetian art legal history.[4] Many privileged prints are not currently considered the finest examples produced, nor even the highlights of an individual’s oeuvre. Censorial licenses were mandatory for print circulation, whereas privileges were optional, costly legal procedures. Additional resources required in applying for exclusive reproduction rights meant that printmakers and publishers were selective in their requests for privileges. Mercator did not seek a Venetian privilegio for Orbis Imago while Floriano did obtain a limited monopoly for his Mappamondo.[5] Applications for the legally designated privilegio were based on the privilege holder’s speculation regarding which multiples would be successful, or in an effort to prevent others from copying designs from other media that had proven worthwhile. As today, one could not predict with certainty which map styles would sell or influence the next generation of designers. For a privilege in Early Modern Venice, authorship was less imperative than timely bureaucracy.
