Portrait of Henrietta Maria (of France, Queen of Charles I). SERENISSMA. ET POTENTISSMA. DNA. HENRICA MARIA BORBONIA, DEI GRATIA ... / Antonius van Dyck Eques pinxit. ; Petr. de Jode sculpsit. First edition.
Antwerp: Math. Antonius, circa 1630-1650. Large format engraving. of Henrietta Maria (1609-1669), Queen of Charles I. 53 x 40.4 cm. Mounted on a supprt sheet. Tear in lower left corner. Ink annotation lower right margin dated 1669....New Hollstein (Dutch & Flemish) / The New Hollstein: Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts 1450-1700 (391.IV)
Hollstein / Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts c.1450-1700 (61.II)
O'Donoghue 1908-25 / Catalogue of Engraved British Portraits preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum (10)
In...."Sir Anthony Van Dyck stands out as the solitary great etcher of the school. Portrait etching had scarcely had an existence before his time, and in his work it suddenly appears at the highest point ever reached in the art" (Hind, p. 165). "The plan of this publication took shape after Van Dyck returned from Italy (1626) and before he went to England (1632). He made careful preparatory drawings in chalk and brush for the publication. He directed and revised the work of the engravers, the best of the Rubens circle; he collaborated with his etching needle in some of the plates and himself etched the most beautiful set, mainly portraits of artists. One of the most brilliant in human characterization is the portrait of Peter Brueghel the Younger, son of the great Peasant Brueghel. It is remarkable that the etching appeared in this sketchy form in the book, proving that the master regarded it as finished. All interest is focussed on the wonderful had. The first edition was published in Antwerp in 1635-1636. Yet it was not complete, and the title-page did not appear before the Gillis Hendricx edition of 1645, engraved by Jacob Neels" (Benesch, Artistic and Intellectual Trends, p. 32.) Hofer, Baroque Book Illustrations 132. Item #51-4825
Price: $750.00