The map “Il Regno di Scozia di Nuova Projezione” represents one of the most successful and elegant achievements of 18th-century Venetian cartography. Published in 1776, the map is included in Antonio Zatta’s famous “Atlante Novissimo”, a monumental publication that redefined the standards of geographical accuracy and aesthetic elegance of the era in Italy.
Described as “di Nuova Projezione” (new projection) the map incorporates scientific surveys and the most recent astronomical measurements from beyond the Alps (particularly from the French school of cartography), offering an up-to-date and rigorous representation of the Scottish territory, far removed from the approximations of previous centuries.
The map depicts the whole of Scotland with remarkable precision, rigorously outlining the complex topography of the Highlands and Lowlands and the jagged coastal labyrinth of the Hebrides (divided into the Inner and Outer Hebrides) and the Orkney Islands. The right-hand side features an elegant inset depicting the Shetland Islands.
The true hallmark of Zatta’s work lies in the perfect balance between cartographic precision and Rococo style:
the title cartouche is conceived as an idyllic scene set within a bucolic coastal landscape. The title is engraved on a stone tablet, at the foot of which the engraver has placed a figure handling large wooden barrels and a young girl in period dress carrying a basket—a clear reference to trade and rural life in Scotland.
Antonio Zatta (active in Venice from 1757 to 1797) was one of the most important, versatile, and industrious Italian publishers and printers of the 18th century. Active in Venice, then the European capital of the art of printing, Zatta linked his name to monumental literary editions (including a famous illustrated edition of the works of Dante Alighieri). His absolute masterpiece, however, remains the *Atlante Novissimo* (published in four volumes between 1775 and 1785), for which he collaborated with distinguished geographers, such as the learned mathematician and astronomer Giovanni Maria Cassini, and with excellent Venetian engravers such as Giuliano Zuliani and Gian Maria Pitteri. Zatta’s maps are renowned for the extraordinary quality of the paper, the sharpness of the inking, and the consistent presence of figurative cartouches that encapsulate the artistic spirit and refinement of the Venetian Enlightenment.
