Tielemano Stella (1527–1589) – Map Dated 1560 | Early Copperplate Engraving, Hand Colored

County of Mansfeld, Saxony. 1560 (per plate).

Engraved by Venetian cartographer Tielemano Stella (1527–1589), this map depicts the County of Mansfeld within the Holy Roman Empire — a politically fragmented region of central Germany during the Renaissance.

The cartouche reads:

“Mansfeldiae Comitatus Descriptio – Auctore Tielemano Stella.”

Executed as a copperplate engraving and finished in hand color, the work reflects the refined linear style of mid-16th-century Italian cartography: articulated river systems, stylized hill shading, and dense regional annotation.

Stella’s work predates the dominance of Dutch atlas production and sits within the transitional period of Italian engraved mapmaking — when territorial Europe was still defined by bishoprics, counties, and principalities rather than modern nation states.

Details

• Cartographer: Tielemano Stella (1527–1589)
• Title: Mansfeldiae Comitatus
• Date: 1560 (as engraved in plate)
• Medium: Copperplate engraving
• Color: Hand-applied
• Region Depicted: Mansfeld (Saxony, Germany)
• Framed Size: Approx. 24 x 22 in
• Condition: Currently framed; not examined out of frame. Margins appear even; plate mark not visible due to matting. Sold as shown.

This is an early impression of a 16th-century design. As with many Renaissance maps, impressions were issued across multiple periods; the sheet has not been removed from frame for paper analysis.

A legitimate antique cartographic work — not a modern decorative reproduction.