Mastering the Landscape: Geometric Survey in Sixteenth-Century France

By the mid-sixteenth century in Europe, architectural drawing conventions consisting of scaled, orthogonal plans were in general use. One area of drawing practice, however, proved resistant to the application of scale. In France, the use of scaled topographical maps was well established for military purposes by the second half of the sixteenth century, but they did not break through in most civic contexts until the 1640s. The lagging and uneven adoption of the technique points to a stratification of expertise among both mapmakers and map audiences. The first instances of survey for urban and landscape design also appear relatively late.