Description
Collection of Eleftherios Venizelos A Rare Early 17th-Century Map of Crete and the Greek Archipelago (Candia Insula) by Abraham Ortelius
Shows the isle of Crete (Candia),Metellino (Mitilini, Lesbos), Cerigo (Cythera), Scarpanto (Karpathos), Nicsia (Naxos), Santorini (Thira), Milo (Milos), Stalimene (Lemnos), Negroponte (Euboea), Rodus (Rhodes) and Scio (Chios).
Title: Candia Insula, Archipelagi Insularum aliquot descrip.
Date of the first edition: 1584.
Copper engraving, printed on paper.
This beautifully composed map, titled Candia Insula, presents the island of Crete alongside a collection of smaller Aegean islands, under the banner Archipelagi Insularum Aliquot Descrip. Executed in the style of early Flemish and Dutch cartographers such as Abraham Ortelius, the map exemplifies the elegant cartographic language of the early modern period—decorative yet precise.
Each island is finely delineated with careful topographical rendering—towns, mountain ranges, ports—accompanied by rich baroque embellishment and early typographic elements. The colouring, likely original or early hand-colour, is still vibrant and finely applied.
Condition Report:
Paper gently toned consistent with age; scattered spotting and light surface wear; original colour well-preserved; later framing. A fine and well-preserved example.
Provenance
Collection of Lily Venizelos, wife of Eleftherios Venizelos, grandson of Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos (1864-1936) to support the MEDASSET Organization.
According to the family the map comes from the personal collection of Eleftherios Venizelos (1864–1936), the seven-time Prime Minister of Greece and architect of the modern Greek state. A celebrated statesman and revered historical figure, Venizelos’s legacy lends this piece extraordinary cultural and historical significance. Accompanied with document of provenance.