Rare map by Giuseppe Antonio Remondini showing the Austrian possessions in northern Italy after the peace treaty of Campoformio signed on October 1797 by General Napoleon Bonaparte, commander-in-chief of the Army of Italy, and Count Johann Ludwig Josef von Cobenzl, representing Austria. The map, published in Bassano in 1798 on the occasion of the signing of the treaty, was therefore highly topical and accurately documented the new borders: to the north with Germany; to the south with the Cisalpine Republic and the Adriatic Sea; to the east with the Duchy of Carnia and County of Gorizia; and to the west with part of Lake Garda with the boundary line including Limone and Campione on the Brescian shore passing through Lazise and San Giacomo in the Veronese area and circling around the fortress of Legnago and heading, parallel to the Po River, to the sea.
Produced with scientific precision and editorial timeliness, this map not only captures the new Austrian territorial arrangements in the Peninsula, but also reflects Napoleon’s ambitions and the waning of the ancien régime.
The Treaty of Campoformio was the culmination of Napoleon’s victories against the First Coalition and sanctioned the cession of the Republic of Venice to Austria in exchange for recognition of the newly formed Cisalpine Republic, a satellite state of revolutionary France. The agreement redrew the borders of northern Italy: Austria obtained Venetia, Istria and Dalmatia, while France consolidated its control over Lombardy and parts of Emilia and Romagna. This partition marked the beginning of profound political and social transformations in the region, a prelude to the further Napoleonic campaigns that would lead to the reorganization of Italy in the early 19th century.
The Remondini dynasty, among the most influential families of printers in Europe between the 17th and 19th centuries, originated in Bassano del Grappa (then part of the Republic of Venice) thanks to Giovanni Antonio Remondini the Elder, who founded a small printing house in 1631. However, it was with his son Giuseppe Remondini (active from 1660) that the business began to flourish, specializing in popular prints, devotional books, engravings and maps. In the 18th century, under the leadership of Francesco Remondini (Giuseppe’s son), the company reached its zenith, becoming a true ante litteram industrial giant, with more than 1,000 workers, an international sales network, and innovative techniques such as woodcut and intaglio. The Remondinis distinguished themselves by their ability to combine quality and mass production, addressing their offerings to both an educated and popular audience. Their works included holy cards, almanacs, and practical manuals, as well as artistic masterpieces produced in collaboration with engravers such as Giovanni Volpato. Thanks to a dense network of commercial agents, their creations reached fairs throughout Europe, from the Americas to the Ottoman Empire, consolidating an economic-cultural empire.
Giovanni Antonio Remondini was born in 1756 at a time when the family business was in its heyday. Growing up in an environment steeped in art and entrepreneurship, he inherited the leadership of the printing company in the mature stage of its history, probably working alongside his father or other relatives in management. His leadership coincided with a turbulent era: the French Revolution (1789) and Napoleon’s campaigns in Italy (from 1796) upset the political and economic balance. The fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797, replaced by pro-French and then Austrian governments, damaged the Remondini’s businesses, depriving them of customs protections and traditional markets. Giovanni Antonio tried to adapt, but military requisitions, competition from new industrial printing techniques and the changed post-revolutionary cultural climate undermined the business. Giovanni Antonio died in 1811 without being able to reverse the decline. The print shop, already struggling, continued with minor heirs until it finally closed in 1861, symbolizing the end of an artisanal era replaced by industrialization.
