A superb 9-sheet 17th century prospect of a regatta on the Grand Canal

A record of a regatta held on the Grand Canal to celebrate the visit to Venice of Ernst August, Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg (later Elector of Hanover, father of George I of Great Britain) in 1686. This extremely rare prospect depicts not only the baroque galleys dedicated to the classical gods but also the buildings lining the Grand Canal, including those of the Piazza San Marco. Engraved by Portio and Dalla Via, it was originally published without a title in Giovanni Matteo Alberti's account of the regatta, ''Giuochi Festivi, E Militari, Danze, Serenate, Machine, Boscareccia Artificiosa, Regatta Solenne... '', by Andrea Poletti in 1686. Moretto states that the small sheet on the right was not in the original issue. This state, the first issue by Coronelli, has been augmented by a title on a gonfalon on the trumpet of a flying angel.