Tavola Strozzi

Francesco Rosselli's Tavola Strozzi is one of the most important documents of late fifteenth-century Florentine urban topography — a panoramic view of Naples as seen from the sea that was produced for a Strozzi family commission around 1472–1473, possibly commemorating the Aragonese naval victory of Ischia against the Angevin fleet of René of Anjou. Rosselli was a cartographer, engraver, and painter whose topographic skills gave him unique authority for this kind of documentary view. The panel's level of topographic detail — showing the city's harbour, fortifications, and major buildings — makes it a primary source for the appearance of Quattrocento Naples.

Rosselli's technique serves the topographic purpose: precise, descriptive rendering of architectural and urban detail from the sea-level viewpoint. The panoramic horizontal format accommodates the full sweep of the Neapolitan bay. Ships in the foreground establish scale and document the naval context. The handling is meticulous and cartographic rather than painterly — the work of a professional whose purpose is documentary accuracy as much as aesthetic pleasure.