Borgia's Map

In the early 16th century, Cesare Borgia commissions military maps of unusual precision for his time. One of them, made by Leonardo da Vinci, radically transforms urban representation: vertical view, coherent proportions, and almost modern geometric logic. Cartography then becomes a direct instrument of territorial control.

When Leonardo da Vinci enters the service of Cesare Borgia around 1502, he receives several missions related to military engineering and observation of fortified cities in central Italy. Borgia then seeks to rapidly consolidate his territorial power in a politically fragmented region.

The map of Imola constitutes one of the most remarkable results of this collaboration. Unlike often symbolic or approximate medieval representations, Leonardo produces an extremely structured zenith view of the city. Streets, fortifications, and urban proportions are organized according to coherent mathematical logic facilitating strategic reading of territory.

This precision rests on several technical innovations: systematic geometric measurements, use of fixed reference points, and probably advanced observation instruments for the era. The objective is not merely aesthetic. A reliable representation allows planning of military movements, urban defenses, and administrative control.

Several historians today consider this map as a pivotal moment in the history of Western cartography. It also illustrates a broader transformation of the Italian Renaissance: the progressive passage from a symbolic representation of space toward a measurable, abstract, and administrable vision of political territory.