The Ottoman Fleet Attacking Tunis at La Goulette, 1574

Location

Country: Tunisia
City: Tunis
Place: British Embassy

This animated view of hexagonal-shaped fortresses, menacing galleys, colourful tents and cannons, shows La Goleta, the strongest marine city in Tunis, located on the shore of the Gulf of Tunis, as it appeared in 1574, during an attack by Ottoman soldiers. La Goleta had originally been conquered by Carlos V in 1535 and transformed into a fortified town and prison under the supervision of Spanish soldiers. Its location was key especially for the Ottoman Empire which was expanding its territory throughout the Mediterranean. Under Soliman the Magnificent, the town surrendered to the Ottomans and was subsequently occupied in 1573 by Don Juan de Austria’s troops. In his famous novel 'Don Quixote', Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes dedicated two sonnets of epitaph and eulogy to the Spanish soldiers who died in La Goleta.

Bruan and Hogenberg: The six volume city atlas ‘Civitates Orbis Terrarum’ was published in Köln between 1572 and 1617. The atlas was edited by German geographer and cleric Georg Braun (1541-1622) and the maps engraved by the German engraver Frans (Franz) Hogenberg (1535-1590). In total the atlas contained 546 plates of cities of the known world; mostly birds-eye maps.

Places

Africa, Tunisia

Subjects

rowing boat, fleet, map (as Subject), seascape/coastal scene, sea, fortification, tent/marquee, ship, oar

Materials & Techniques

engraving, coloured engraving

Artist

Braun and Hogenberg (1535 - 1622)

Title

The Ottoman Fleet Attacking Tunis at La Goulette, 1574

Date

1574

Medium

Coloured engraving

Dimensions

height: 41.00 cm, width: 54.50 cm

Acquisition

Origin uncertain

Provenance

Foreign & Commonwealth Office (British Embassy, Tunis)

GAC number

17671