ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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Theatrum statum Regiae Celsitudinis Sabaudiæ Ducis or Theatrum Statuum Sabaudiæ, commonly abbreviated in Theatrum Sabaudiæ, is an iconographic and cartographic representation of the States of Savoy's house in the days of Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont and King of Cyprus, made during the 18th century.

Theatrum Statuum Regiae Celsitudinis Sabaudiæ Ducis Pedemontii Principis Cypri Regis (trad. Theatre of the States of His Royal Highness the Duke of Savoie, Prince of Piedmont, Roy of Cyprus) was published in Amsterdam in 1682 by the Dutch cartographer and publisher Joan Blaeu.

Work began in 1657. It was published in 1682 under the regency of the Duchess Marie-Jeanne-Baptiste de Savoie, second wife of the Duke, who died in 1675. The Dutch publisher Blaeu also died before publication in 1673.

Background
The realization of the Theatrum Sabaudiæ is considered a political manifesto by the House of Savoy in order to demonstrate its power with the other princely houses of Europe.

The work of representing the States of Savoie's house began under the regency of Christine de France, wife of the Duke of Savoie Victor-Amédée de Savoie and daughter of Henri IV king of France, with the command of a cartography of the cities of the principality in 1657. This work was continued and improved by his son, Duke Charles Emmanuel II, in 1661. Work continued from 1672 until publication.

Description
The book Theatrum Statuum Sabaudiæ allows in the form of maps or engravings to make a state of the place, a description both historical and geographical, but also economic, cultural, social and religious of the territories placed under the domination of the house of Savoie, the States of Savoie, in the . Historian Étienne Bourdon sums up the "Theatrum Sabaudiæ [like] an idealized vision of reality".

The book, in two in-folio volumes, is written in Latin. 50 editions were first drawn for Savoy's house. Eleven years later, books in the Dutch language were published again in 1697 and 1725. Editions in French were published in 1700 under the title " Théâtre des Etats de S. A. R. le Duc de Savoye, Prince of Piedmont" and 1725.

The Theatrum Sabaudiæ is composed of 145 cavalry views commented, whose original drawings were coordinated and sometimes made by the engineer Giovanni Tommaso Borgonio and then made by the engraver Johannes de Ram. Borgonio magnifies the duchy with the realization of three maps and fifty-two ornament boards. Fifteen views were made by Borgonio in spring 1674. The twelve cities of the Duchy represented with a cavalier perspective are: Chambéry, Montmélian, Moutiers, Annecy, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Thonon, Rumilly, Aix and l'Arc Romain, Sallanches with in the background a panorama of Mont Blanc, Bonneville, Évian, La Roche. The three maps represent Piedmont, Savoie and l