Milano Capitale Del Regno d'Italia captures the city at its most ambitious, when Milan briefly served as the capital under Napoleon’s rule. Commissioned as part of a sweeping program to design a “new Milan,” the map was executed by the Astronomi di Brera, whose astronomical observations underpin its celebrated precision. It is a consummate city map: streets, public places, individual properties, gardens, and even building interiors are delineated with rare clarity, while a detailed legend classifies street names and the most important sites. The palette subtly elevates civic life, tinting public areas in pink to draw the eye across piazzas and promenades. In these pages, the administrative confidence of a capital city meets the empirical rigor of science—an unforgettable portrait of Milan’s urban fabric at the dawn of the nineteenth century.

The cartography is organized with a surveyor’s logic that rewards close study. Elevation readings appear at the corners, allowing the viewer to sense the city’s gentle relief, while the circumference of the walls is explicitly measured. Distances are annotated in both meters and braccia milanesi, and the plan is subdivided with measurements marked every 20 meters—an exacting cadence that makes the flow of streets and blocks instantly legible. From the axial heart of Piazza Duomo, thoroughfares radiate with deliberate geometry: Corso Vittorio Emanuele II sweeps toward Piazza San Babila, while Via Torino anchors the historic commercial spine. The meticulous plotting of individual plots, interior courtyards, and green enclosures provides a granular, lived-in portrait of Milan that few city maps of the era can match.

Brera emerges as an intellectual and civic pole. The Palazzo Brera is boldly identified as the “Electoral Colleges and Palace of Sciences and Arts,” signaling the Enlightenment ambitions of the regime and the mapmakers’ own scholarly pedigree. Around it, streets such as Via della Moscova, Via Garibaldi, and Via Melchiorre Gioia sketch the city’s northern arc toward what would become the modern administrative quarter and the grand expanse of Piazza della Repubblica. Along the perimeter, broad avenues—Viale Venezia, Viale Umbria, and Viale Piceno—trace the edges where walls, gates, and promenades concentrate movement. This is a city plan that reveals not only where Milan was, but where it intended to go, inscribing civic order onto a rapidly modernizing metropolis.

To the west and center, ceremonial and commercial axes interlock. Corso Magenta links historic quarters to new civic spaces, while Piazzale Cadorna stands out as a strategic node binding these routes. East of the cathedral, the refined lattice of Via Monte Napoleone, Via della Spiga, Via del Gesù, and Via Manzoni already suggests the urbane cadence that would later define Milanese elegance, with gardens and private courtyards punctuating the blocks. The legend’s careful categorization of public places and streets turns orientation into an act of discovery, guiding the eye from Piazza della Repubblica to the intimate lanes off Via Pietro Verri and Via Amedei. Few city maps present such a coherent choreography of piazzas, promenades, and domestic enclaves.

The Astronomi di Brera fused artistry with exact science, translating star-calibrated measurements into a masterwork of urban knowledge. Their work dovetailed with the architectural vision of Luigi Cagnola and the decorative refinements championed by Giocondo Albertolli, embedding the map within the broader project of Napoleonic Milan. Its historical fate deepens its allure: after 1814, a second edition expunged Napoleonic references and altered street names, and many originals were lost or discarded, heightening the rarity of this first-state witness. As a city map, it is exceptional—rich in measurements, dual units, and rigorously plotted sectors—yet equally attuned to the symbolism of institutions and the rhythms of daily life. It stands as both an instrument of governance and a portrait of a capital city in full, lucid focus.

Streets and roads on this map

• Albergho
• Corso Como
• Corso Magenta
• Corso Vittorio Emanuele II
• Via Amedei
• Via Ancona
• Via Bagutta
• Via della Moscova
• Via della Spiga
• Via del Gesù
• Via Donizetti
• Via Garibaldi
• Via Manzoni
• Via Monte Napoleone
• Via Montalto
• Via Pasquale Sottocorno
• Via Palestro
• Via Pietro Verri
• Via Plinio
• Via Roma
• Via Torino
• Via Verdi
• Viale Piceno
• Viale Umbria
• Viale Venezia
• Via Melchiorre Gioia
• Piazza Duomo
• Piazza della Repubblica
• Piazza San Babila
• Piazzale Cadorna

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Detailed legend categorizing street names and public places.
• Elevation data above sea level marked in corners.
• Indication of the circumference of city walls.
• Palazzo Brera as a significant landmark.
• Subdivided sectors showing precise measurements every 20 meters.
• Individual properties and gardens marked on the map.

Historical and design context

• Created between 1807 and 1810.
• Mapmaker: Astronomi di Brera.
• Commissioned by Napoleon, with contributions from Luigi Cagnola and Giocondo Albertolli.
• Produced when Milan was the capital under Napoleonic rule, part of Napoleon’s initiative to develop a new Milan.
• Recognized for precision and detail, showcasing contemporary surveying techniques through meticulous astronomical observations.
• Measurements marked in both meters and braccia milanesi.
• Composed of four sheets, intricately detailed, with public areas emphasized in pink.
• After 1814, a second edition altered street names and expunged Napoleonic references, making the first edition rare.
• Focused on Milan, Italy.

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This is a very large map that must be ordered at a large size, so that you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 100in (250cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.

If you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the best old maps to see if something else catches your eye.

Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.

This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.

This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.