Allegorical Map of the Siege of the Castle of Love, 1735 (coloured engraving)

Full title: Allegorical Map of the Siege of the Castle of Love Published: 1735, Augsburg Format: Engraving / Hand colouring / Map Creator: Seutter Georg Matthaüs Shelfmark: Maps C.26.f.4.(42). In this map, Seutter has recast typical contemporary town plans into an allegorical map of the siege of the Castle of Love. Unusually for a map of love, the plan is drawn from a male perspective: the Castle of Love is the male heart, while it is the women who are shown trying to break through the male’s outer defences. The male heart is shown in the keep of a fortified town. This is reminiscent of the siege maps from the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), which would have been very familiar to a contemporary audience. The keep is surrounded by a moat, labvelled ‘La Mer Glacee Sans Passion’ (‘Frozen Sea without Passion’).