This stunning, large-format geological map of the Lombard provinces was designed by geologist and paleontologist Giulio Curioni and produced by Litografia Ronchi in 1877.
The map showcases in beautiful detail the territories of Milan, Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Lecco, Monza and Brianza, Sondrio, and Varese. It highlights the different types of terrain and rocks, categorized by geological era, through a skillful use of color. In the upper left corner, a large table provides a comprehensive explanation of the colors and conventional symbols used in the map. At the bottom, a small inset shows in detail the hill where the municipality of San Colombano al Lambro is located, southeast of Milan.
The area dedicated to the title on the right notes that the map is based on the one displayed in Paris in 1875 and awarded by the International Geographical Congress. This was a well-deserved recognition of Curioni’s passionate work over forty years of arduous surveying in the Lombard mountains. Two additional small notes emphasize that the map was produced by the Ronchi lithography of Milan on behalf of the Royal Italian Geological Committee and that the two-part text is published by Hoepli.
Giulio Curioni (1796-1878), a member of an aristocratic family from Asso, graduated in Law from the University of Pavia in 1815. However, he dedicated himself passionately to natural sciences, becoming an eminent geologist of the Lombard Alps. His career began in the mining administration, where he was able to explore and study various deposits. He was a pioneer of stratigraphy in Italy, demonstrating the Carboniferous origin of the Lombard formations and the presence of signs of glaciation in the Po Valley.
His studies and discoveries of siderite deposits in Val Camonica, Val Seriana, Val di Scalve, Val Trompia, and the mountains surrounding Lake Como to the west are renowned.
Founder of the Italian Society of Natural Sciences, Curioni received numerous honors for his scientific contributions and academic activity, culminating in the publication in 1877, a year before his death, of the geological map of the Lombard provinces.
