PENIG, SAXONIA,- PENIGK, MISNIAE OPPIDUM

An original antique copper-engraving after J. Hoefnagel's drawing of 1617. From the 6th part of Latin ed. of Braun and Hogenberg's "Civitates Orbis Terrarum", published by A. Hierat in Cologne, 1617. With ornamental title cartouche, a cartouche with explanatory notes (A-D), another cartouche with Hoefnagel's address, and two figures in the foreground.
This view comes from the sixth and last volume of 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum' ("Theatri Praecipuarum Totius Mundi Urbivm Liber Sextus"), published in a much smaller edition than previous volumes, and it is, therefore, rarer than most of Braun & Hogenberg city views.

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN (on verso): "Scarcely 300 years ago this whole area was a nest of robbers and murderers, until finally Margrave Frederick of Meissen cleared and liberated all the highways and byways in his land. This town lies on the Mulde at a place where a chapel dedicated to Our Lady once stood, to which came many visitors and pilgrims from distant countries.
When some people noticed that there were benefits to be obtained from the great number of pilgrims, they settled here in order to provide hospitality for them. In this way, the pilgrimage and the town grew steadily. A fine church was built in place of the chapel, houses were constructed in an orderly manner and divided into streets, and finally, a wall was built, thus turning the village into a town."
This is a view from a hill to the west of the town, which lies in a meander of the navigable Zwickauer Mulde (D). It is dominated by the late Gothic parish church of Our Lady on the Mountain (C), which was consecrated in 1515. In pre-Reformation times, from about the 12th century on, this was one of the famous places of Marian Pilgrimage in Saxony.
On the left, on the other bank of the Mulde, is Old Penig with the Romanesque church of St Giles. The town wall was built from the middle of the 15th century. The 16th-century Renaissance New Castle (B), seat of the Counts of Leisnitz and Schönberg, towers above the houses of the burghers and artisans.
Penig is situated on the former Prague-Chemnitz-Magdeburg trade route, and was recorded for the first time in 1301.

The "Civitates" was compiled and written by George Braun, Canon of Cologne Cathedral. Braun gathered together vast amounts of information and draft plans to produce over 500 city views/maps published in six parts between 1572 and 1617. Most of these engravings were made by Simon Novellanus and Frans Hogenberg, many after drawings by Joris Hoefnagel.

Reference: Koeman IV, map 3353, ed. 41:1-3 (1617/18 B&H 6).Van der Krogt 4, 3353, Taschen, B & H p. 459