The Pierre Pertuis, known in German as the Felsentor

Antique copperplate engraving from Merian's Topographia  Helvetia Rhaetiae et Valesiae.

The image shows the Swiss Alpine passageway between Tavannes and Sonceboz in the Canton of Bern. The man-made or man-enlarged passage way through the Alps, has been considered one of the marvels of the Swiss landscape for centuries. It dates atleast to Roman times since an incription on the North face reads:

NUMINI AUGUST(ORUM) VIA D(UCTA) PER M(ARCUM) DUNIUM PATERNUM IIVIR(U)M COL(ONIAE) HELVET(IORUM)

This road was laid in holy honor of the lord by Marcus Duniis Paternus, Vice Magistrate of the Helvetic Colony (Aventicum).

Dimensions: 19.5x27 cm

Conditon: Very good. Nice clean print, strong impression. There are two light creases through the center of the print (original to the print, which folded out of the book)

About Matthaeus Merian the Elder

(Mattheaus Merian d. Ä. - 1593-1650)

Matthaeus Merian, the son of a saw mill owner and city councilor, on September 22, 1593 in Basel.

He started his artistic life as a glas painter, but in Zurich he met the engraver Dietrich Meyer, who taught him the art of making copperplate prints. He married the daughter of the publisher Theodor de Bry, whose Frankfurt publishing house he later inherited. He traveled extensively throughout Europe, but particularly between the publishing centers of the Netherlands, Frankfurt and Basel. Major works published by Merian's publishing house include the

His major works include the "Merian Bibel" (1630), Johann Ludwig Gottfried's "Weltchronik" abd "Theatrum Europaeum" (1629-34). His masterpiece was the Topographia Germaniae" published around 1640-1645.

More Maps and City Views by Mattheus Merian