Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae: The Seven Churches of Rome (Le Sette Chiese di Roma) 1575

Giovanni Ambrogio Brambilla made this print, "The Seven Churches of Rome," around 1590, using etching and engraving. It's a bird's-eye view of the city during a devotional procession, likely on a Holy Day. Prints like this served a crucial function. In an era before mass tourism and photography, the image of a city – its buildings, monuments, and rituals – had to be widely circulated. The Catholic Church was very aware of its public image in the decades after the Protestant Reformation. The print shows us the spatial relationship between the seven pilgrimage churches, and the performance of piety that connected them. Brambilla captures a Rome that is both an urban center and a sacred stage. Prints were made for a growing market of collectors and tourists. To fully understand this image, one would want to consult guidebooks, maps, and religious calendars of the period. These sources help us appreciate the vital role played by printmaking in shaping Rome's identity as a center of faith and spectacle.