[Antique print, etching/ets] LOVIS LE IVSTE XIII DU NOM ROY DE FRANCE ET NAVARRE/Lodewijk XIII (Lodewijk de 13e), koning van Frankrijk en van Navarra, published 1649.

Jean Valdor (1616-1670)

About this Item

Allegorical portrait of king Louis XIII of France, included in "Le Triomphes de Louis le Juste XIII. du nom, Roy de la France et de la Navarre. Contenans les plus grandes actions ou." , published in Paris in 1649. The king is portrayed in a circular frame, decorated as a stylized wreath. The portrait stands in front of a classical building reminding of the Pantheon in Rome. In the foreground, a winged personification of History is about to write the deeds of the king with a quill.Alison Saunders provided some context to the publication: "[.] the royal engraver Jean Valdor, had [already] done this in 1649, with his ambitious emblematic history of the exploits of Louis XIII. This grandiose folio volume, published by the "Imprimerie royale", has, however, a clear dual function: while it offers a factual history of the reign of Louis XIII, it also is clearly intended to make a statement about the glory of France. The work stands as a splendid testimony of pride in nationhood, expressed indirectly by means of praise of the monarch, and it is not coincidental that it was actually commissioned by Louis XIII himself, as a series of portraits of his allies and military leaders, together with reproduction and explanation of their devices, and also a series of highly detailed maps and plans of scenes of battle. [.] In the interest of maximum accessibility, the work is wholly bilingual, composed in French and thereafter translated into Latin, with each item printed first in its original vernacular version and then again in Latin. [.] (The Seventeenth-century French Emblem: A Study in Diversity, Librairie Droz, 2000, pp. 118-119).Date of publishing 1649.Lodewijk XIII (Lodewijk de 13e) - Koning Frankrijk Etching on paper, trimmed within plate mark; total: 348 x 253 mm; a wormhole on the right, on one of the pillars, a tiny brown stain on the "I" of the inscription "LOVIS", on verso text in letterpress. On verso the paper has been scratched in some points, determining thin paper. On verso, on the four corners, traces of the previous mounting. Otherwise in good condition. Seller Inventory # 66170

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Title: [Antique print, etching/ets] LOVIS LE IVSTE ...