Decorative Art

Wonderful image after Rembrandt Fine Steel engraving. Published by Fisher, London, Dated 1842 Unframed.

Custom Wooden Framed Map of 1700's Hundreds Paris, France. This reprint of the early antique map of the capital and most populous city in France has been deckled over a neutral col...

A highly decorative pair of hand painted marriage portraits depicting a man & woman in 17th century courtly attire. Both figures shown surrounded by flowering vines - he surrounded b...

Wonderful image after Rembrandt Fine Steel engraving. Published by Blackie & Sons London. C.1850 Unframed.

Smaller size with embossed decoration.

With a central pomegranate surrounded by a gadrooned border. The border with stamped decoration.

Wonderful image after Domenichino Fine Steel engraving. Published C.1850 Unframed.

Alms plates were used to collect donations during church services. This plate depicts Adam And Eve.

Gorgeous blue hand painted Baroque cherub or angel 18th century style Portuguese ceramic tile/azulejo The tile painted in cobalt blue over white in typ...

outstanding tapestry in wool and silk, Bruxelles, second half of the 17th century. Depicting a detailed scene of The Bull Hunting. On the background of the landscape the Monument of ...

A Pair of 19th Century tall painted panels, oil on canvas, finely painted with flowers, folager and scolly, framed. Circa 1860. England. MEASUREMENTS: Frame 106" H x 33.25" W x 2.5...

A Pair of continental paintings, Depicting allegories, two of the Continents the Americas and Eurasia. 19th Century ( second half ) MEASUREMENTS: Frame 63.75" H x 13.25" W x 1.75" ...

Germany Ansbach 18th century A set of 16 blue and white, with manganese tint, tiles with decorations of animals and figures. Very fine painting and much detail in the animals and fi...

Pair of Baroque Frames With Putti and Landscape carved in a single basswood board and composed of richly carved foliage and and chasing scrolls and intertwine until culminating at t...

Set of five German Engraved and parcel Gilt Mirror Panels, Each engraved mirrored panel portrays a different character with hand painting and gilt detailing.

An impressive and colorful pair of Italian 18th century Baroque st. patinated wood and Giltwood wall brackets. Each wonderfully carved wall bracket displays a stunning faux marble plinth below an impressive patinated wood Rocaille scrolled reserve. The scrolls protrude and follow the shape of the patinated green backplates accented with mottled patinated wood bands. At the top front of each wall bracket is an exceptional and large scale ebonized wood foliate reserve below the original patinated wood display shelves.

L'essenza di questo quadro è rappresentato da un teschio messicano realizzato attraverso la tecnica dell' intarsio a mano che danno vita a dettagli intricati che sottolineano la comp...

Antique French hand-carved oak wood wall plaque with cherub's head, ca. 1900. An adorable Baroque-style hand-carved dark brown oak wood wall plaque or wall decoration depicting a hea...

Decorate a wine cellar with this elegant pair of antique wall plaques. Created in France, circa 1880, and octagonal in shape, each charger...

A stunning and large scale Italian 18th century Baroque period Giltwood wall decor panel. At the center of this very decorative panel is a protruding central medallion with carved fo...

17th century Italian hand-painted ecclesiastical architectural element adorned with carnelian pebbles, gold-plated crystals, blue and yellow raw agate, and b...

Gorgeous blue hand painted Baroque cherub or angel 18th century style Portuguese ceramic tile/azulejo The tile painted in cobalt blue over white in typical 18th century Portugal set ...

Wonderful image of a Doge of Venice, Leonardo Loredan Photogravure Published C.1900 Unframed

Wonderful image of Job Photogravure Published C.1900 Unframed

Section of a 18th century ship in oak with remnants of polychrome. Presumably part of a bowsprit. It is possible to hang this piece horizontally and vertically.

Pair of 17th Century Gilt silver framed saints. Silver saints are draped in period clothing and holding a book, against a red fabric background with ...

A pair of carved and gilded chestnut architectural elements. Both vigorously carved in high relief from a single section of chestnut with its first gilded finish still in place, the...

Virgen of the Lamb, French Limoges Enamel Portrait Plaque 1910s

Wonderful image after Michelangelo Fine Steel engraving. Published by Jones & Co. C.1850 Unframed.

Gorgeous blue hand painted Baroque cherub or angel 18th century style Portuguese ceramic tile/azulejo The tile painted in cobalt blue over white in typical 18th century Portugal set ...

A very decorative pair of Italian 18th century Baroque st. Giltwood wall decor. Each pierced wall decor has a central double acanthus leaf with two 'C' and 'S' scrolled foliate branc...

A very decorative true pair of Italian 18th century Baroque st. faux painted Porphyry wall decor. Each wonderful carved architectural element is in the shape of an oil lamp and are r...

Wonderful image after Rembrandt Fine Steel engraving. Published by Jones & Co., London. C.1850 Unframed.

Wonderful image after Ruthart Fine Steel engraving. Published by Payne C.1850 Unframed.

Wonderful image after Carracci Fine Steel engraving. Published by Jones & Co. C.1850 Unframed.

An extraordinary Original stealing engraving of the royal gallery in Munich and Schleissheim, hand-colored. Beautiful hand crafted gilded Frame. Dated at the backside with a label fr...

A fine mythological etching by the great Italian engraver Antonio Tempesta (Florence, 1555 – Rome, 5 August 1630) printed by François L'Anglois or Langlois (12 May 1589 (baptised) – 13 January 1647),also called F. L. D. Ciartres (" Francois Langlois from Chartres"). Beautiful sheet , very sharp . The dimensions below are inclusive of the frame, the print without the frame measures 27x19 cm Antonio Tempesta, also called il Tempestino (1555 – 5 August 1630), was an Italian painter and engraver, whose art acted as a point of connection between Baroque Rome and the culture of Antwerp. Much of his work depicts major battles and historical figures. He was born and trained in Florence and painted in a variety of styles, influenced to some degree by "Counter-Maniera" or Counter-Mannerism. He enrolled in the Florentine Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in 1576. He was a pupil of Santi di Tito, then of the Flemish painter Joannes Stradanus. He was part of the large team of artists working under Giorgio Vasari on the interior decoration of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. His favourite subjects were battles, cavalcades, and processions. He relocated to Rome, where he associated with artists from the Habsburg Netherlands, which may have led to his facility with landscape painting. Among his followers was Marzio di Colantonio. Tempesta and the Flemish painter Matthijs Bril were commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII to paint wide panoramas of the Procession to Transfer the Relics of St. Gregory of Nazianzus (1572) for the loggias on the third floor of the Vatican Palace. He completed frescoes in the Palazzina Gambara at the Villa Lante in Bagnaia (1578-1609). From 1579–83, Tempesta participated in the decoration of the Villa Farnese in Caprarola, notably of this villa's Scala Regia. He is also known to have collaborated on frescoes in the Villa d'Este at Tivoli and the Palazzina Gamara at Villa Lante, Bagnaia. He painted a series of turbulent and crowded battle scenes for the Medici. He also completed a series of engravings on outdoor courtly hunting scenes. Tempesta painted frescoes for the Palazzos Colonna, the Doria Pamphilj, and for the Marchese Giustiniani in his Roman palace, where Tempesta collaborated with Paul Bril, and at Bassano di Sutri. He painted a Massacre of the Innocents for the church of Santo Stefano Rotondo in Rome. Tempesta is now best known as a printmaker in etching and engraving. He also left numerous etchings, among them: Plates from the Old Testament; twenty-four plates from the Life of St. Anthony; a set of 150 prints from Ovid’s Metamorphoses; 13 plates on The Labours of Hercules and four plates on respectively The ages of man; The entry of Alexander into Babylon; Diana and Actaon, and The crucifixion (1612). In 1612 he engraved a series of plates under the title "Batavorum cum Romanis Bellum" after designs of the Netherlandish artist Otto van Veen, also known as Vaenius (1556-1629) and court painter to Alessandro Farnese. Van Veen was influenced by the Italian mannerists but had developed his own style anticipating the Flemish baroque of his pupil Peter Paul Rubens. The series consists of 36 numbered engraved plates and illustrates the armed struggle between the ancient Dutch tribes and their Roman oppressors as narrated in Tacitus' Histories. Each plate bears at the bottom an engraved legend in Flemish and in Latin while a detailed explanation is printed on the otherwise blank verso. Plate I, signed 'Ant.Tempesta f. Anno 1611', shows 'Roma' and 'Batavia' in battle dress with respective scenic backgrounds, symbolizing the two nations. Fifteen other plates bear Tempesta's monogram. The plates depict heroic events, sieges, and battle scenes. This historicist work was very popular in its time. Tempesta also drew many designs for tapestries. François L’Anglois or Langlois (12 May 1589 (baptised) – 13 January 1647), also called F. L. D. Ciartres ("François Langlois from Chartres"), was a French print publisher, print seller, engraver, bookseller, art dealer, and painter. He is widely considered to have been the first important print publisher in France and to have contributed significantly to spreading awareness of contemporary artists' work throughout Europe. François L’Anglois was born in Chartres and baptised there on 12 May 1589. He visited Italy on several occasions: Rome in 1613 and 1614 and Genoa, Florence, and Rome again in 1621. On these trips he met Anthony van Dyck and Claude Vignon, who both painted his portrait. He also became acquainted with the engravers Stefano della Bella and François Collignon. It was probably around this time that he acquired the nickname of Chartres (Ciartres in Italian). In 1624–1625 he was associated with Vignon as an art dealer (paintings) and acted as a print collector for Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel, and Charles I of England...

Wonderful image after Garofalo Fine Steel engraving. Published by Jones C.1840 Unframed.

This 18th-century panel, crafted from nine earthenware tiles, showcases an intriguing depiction of a bird in a cage. The delicate white tiles contrast beautifully against the white b...

Gianni Versace "le Voyage de Marco Polo" for Rosenthal. Gianni Versace for Rosenthal. "Le voyage de Marco Polo" porcelain plate with gold decoration, bright colors in red, green and blue with camels, Chinese temple in the center and peacock motif around. Stamped, part of the Rosenthal meets Versace 25th anniversary collection. Porcelain plate, serving plater collector plate could be used as a decorative hanging...

This beautiful maiolica pottery charger is from Montelupo, Italy and is boldly decorated with a soldier walking, carrying a tool of the day. Vividly painted in yellow, green, and blu...

Wonderful image after Raphael Fine Steel engraving. Published C.1850 Unframed.

An impressive early 17th century wood relief carving of the Three Divine Virtues After Jan Pietersz Saenredam and Hendrik Goltzius First quarter of the 17th century; Northern Netherlands Approximate size: 35.5 x 50 cm (without frame); 53 x 67 cm (with frame) The present carving, of Flemish origin and from the first quarter of the 17th century, was executed during the Golden Age of Dutch art. The relief depicts the figures of Pietas, Caritas and Fides: the divine virtues of Hope, Charity and Faith. Each of the Virtues is articulated with exceptional care and the skill of a talented hand. The composition is bursting with energy, emphasized by the active putti surrounding its central protagonist and the emergence of the figures in the foreground, silhouetted against a cityscape with the upper horizon framed by clouds and rays-of-glory. The relief’s design is indebted to late 16th century Mannerist influences shown in the expressive postures of the figures and the billowing hair of Charity. Other Flemish artists approached this theme like the painters, Maarten de Vos, Maarten van Heemskerck, et al. However, our particular carving is an amalgam of three individual compositions engraved by Jan Pietersz Saenredam in 1601, and based on the designs of his mentor and long-time collaborator, Hendrik Goltizius (presumably following inspired Latin prose conceived by the Haarlem Humanist, Cornelis Schonaeus). The relief is set in an elaborate checkered, wood-inlaid frame but its scale and shape suggest it probably once formed part of an elaborate Beeldenkast or impressive Dutch oak cupboard...

"Oil on canvas ""The Lamentation"" painted after the original (circa 1629) by Sir Anthony van Dyck. This rendition of the burial of Jesus Christ shows ...

Two beautiful antique and light friezes in gilded wood: one is cm. 40x16,5 x depth 3. The other one is cm. 36 x 30,5 x depth 3,5. To put where you want.

Pair of framed antique 17th century Roman Catholic antiphonal music sheets, hand drawn on vellum with illuminated capitals. Measures: 28.25” x 1.75” ...

A large Flemish 17th-18th century baroque pictorial tapestry "The Royal Garden". The large tapestry depicting an allegorical park-scene of R...

Beautiful etching representing the classic religious subject of the "Adoration of the Magi" by the Baroque painter and engraver Pietro Testa known as il Lucchesino. The print derives from an oil on canvas of the same name now in Montpelier. Identified by the TPL monogram on the right and the dedication signature. Paolo Bellini in the book "L'opera incisa di Pietro Testa" (The engraving work of Pietro Testa) ,published in 1976 by Neri Pozza in Vicenza, identifies this work as an example of the third state of three since, respect to the second state, the address of Gio Giacomo Rossi is added . In the lower margin there is the dedication in Latin to: Most illustrious and most reverend (cardinal) Gerolamo Bonvisi, Cleric of the Apostolic Chamber, D.D. The star on the left often blushes with the light of evil / Kings live here so that they recognize the Lord, / happy face good star shines benignly./ Petrus Testa Pietro Testa (1611–1650) was an Italian High Baroque artist active in Rome. He is best known as a printmaker and draftsman. He was born in Lucca, and thus is sometimes called il Lucchesino. He moved to Rome early in life. One source states he was ejected from the Cortona studio in 1631, soon after joining the workshop. Others state Testa trained under Pietro Paolini or under Domenichino, for whom he worked under the patronage of Cassiano dal Pozzo. He was friends with Nicolas Poussin and Francesco Mola. Some of his etchings, which often include work in drypoint, have a fantastic quality reminiscent of Jacques Callot, or embellishments of his Genoese contemporary Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione and even presciently suggest William Blake. His Sacrifice of Iphigenia appears to have influenced Tiepolo's rendition at Villa Valmarana Ai Nani in Vicenza. His early prints, from the 1630s, were often religious and were influenced by Federico Barocci...

A mid-18th-century Italian terracotta relief of the Virgin & Child appearing to St Philip Neri In a silver filigree, gilt-bronze and gilt-copper-mounted, lapis lazuli and wood frame. Known as the ‘Apostle of Rome’ due to his labours amongst the sick and poor of the city, Philip Neri (1515-1595) became an influential figure of the Counter-Reformation. Many miracles were attributed to him, and he was beatified by Paul V in 1615. His popularity and place in the folklore of Rome created a demand for his depiction within the church. For example, Carlo Maratta’s painting for San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, the preliminary study for which bears relation to the present composition (Royal Collection, inv. 905553). The fresh and freely modeled handling of the present relief is in the tradition of Giovanni Antonio Mazzuoli’s (1644-1706) small-scale modelli for altarpieces (C. Sisi and G. Gentilini, La Scultura : bozzetti in terracotta, piccoli marmi e altre sculture dal XIV al XX secolo, Florence, 1989, nos. 92-95). Additional information: Origin: Italy Period: Circa 1750, 18th Century Style: Religious, The Virgin and...

This beautiful 11.5 pottery charger is from Montelupo, Italy and is boldly decorated with a soldier on horseback. Vividly painted in yellow, green, and blue. Condition is very good, ...

A fine Italian 19th century oil painting on canvas "La Madonna della Seggiola" after Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino 1483-1520). The circular painted canvas depicting a seated Ma...

This stylish and chic pair of framed Spanish nobility portaits are fabricated with cast brass frames and lacqured paper. The set was purchased by the ...

This beautiful pottery charger is from Montelupo, Italy and is hand painted with two soldiers sword fighting. Vividly painted in yellow, green, and blue. C...

19th Century heavy French bronze relief plaque with three winged dancing angels. Wonderful patina.

A light-brown, green antique Austrian Baroque oil on canvas painting by Franz Xaver Hornöck in a hand crafted original black, partly gilded wooden frame, in good condition. The vinta...

" Ceres and Phytalus" To left, Phytalus, kneeling, receives the fig tree from the goddess Ceres, standing to right, as a reward for his hospitality. Etching and drypoint, circa 1662...

A fine Italian 19th century oil painting on canvas "La Madonna della Seggiola" after Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino 1483-1520) The circular canvas depicting a seated Madonna holding an infant Jesus Christ next to a child Saint John the Baptist, all within a massive carved gilt wood and gesso frame (all high quality gilt is original) which is identical to the frame on Raphael's original artwork. This painting is a 19th Century copy of Raphael's Madonna della Seggiola painted in 1514 and currently exhibited and part of the permanent collection at the Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina, Florence, Italy. The bodies of the Virgin, Christ, and the boy Baptist fill the whole picture. The tender, natural looking embrace of the Mother and Child, and the harmonious grouping of the figures in the round, have made this one of Raphael's most popular Madonnas. The isolated chair leg is reminiscent of papal furniture, which has led to the assumption that Leo X himself commissioned the painting, circa 1890-1900. Subject: Religious painting Measures: Canvas height: 29 1/4 inches (74.3 cm) Canvas width: 29 1/4 inches (74.3 cm) Painting diameter: 28 1/4 inches (71.8 cm) Frame height: 57 7/8 inches (147 cm) Frame width: 45 1/2 inches (115.6 cm) Frame depth: 5 1/8 inches (13 cm).   Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Italian, March 28 or April 6, 1483 - April 6, 1520), known as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael was enormously productive, running an unusually large workshop and, despite his death at 37, leaving a large body of work. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central, and the largest, work of his career. The best known work is The School of Athens in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura. After his early years in Rome much of his work was executed by his workshop from his drawings, with considerable loss of quality. He was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking. After his death, the influence of his great rival Michelangelo was more widespread until the 18th and 19th centuries, when Raphael's more serene and harmonious qualities were again regarded as the highest models. His career falls naturally into three phases and three styles, first described by Giorgio Vasari: his early years in Umbria, then a period of about four years (1504–1508) absorbing the artistic traditions of Florence, followed by his last hectic and triumphant twelve years in Rome, working for two Popes and their close associates. Raphael was born in the small but artistically significant central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region, where his father Giovanni Santi was court painter to the Duke. The reputation of the court had been established by Federico III da Montefeltro, a highly successful condottiere who had been created Duke of Urbino by the Pope - Urbino formed part of the Papal States - and who died the year before Raphael was born. The emphasis of Federico's court was rather more literary than artistic, but Giovanni Santi was a poet of sorts as well as a painter, and had written a rhymed chronicle of the life of Federico, and both wrote the texts and produced the decor for masque-like court entertainments. His poem to Federico shows him as keen to show awareness of the most advanced North Italian painters, and Early Netherlandish artists as well. In the very small court of Urbino he was probably more integrated into the central circle of the ruling family than most court painters. Federico was succeeded by his son Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, who married Elisabetta Gonzaga, daughter of the ruler of Mantua, the most brilliant of the smaller Italian courts for both music and the visual arts. Under them, the court continued as a centre for literary culture. Growing up in the circle of this small court gave Raphael the excellent manners and social skills stressed by Vasari. Court life in Urbino at just after this period was to become set as the model of the virtues of the Italian humanist court through Baldassare Castiglione's depiction of it in his classic work The Book of the Courtier, published in 1528. Castiglione moved to Urbino in 1504, when Raphael was no longer based there but frequently visited, and they became good friends. He became close to other regular visitors to the court: Pietro Bibbiena and Pietro Bembo, both later cardinals, were already becoming well known as writers, and would be in Rome during Raphael's period there. Raphael mixed easily in the highest circles throughout his life, one of the factors that tended to give a misleading impression of effortlessness to his career. He did not receive a full humanistic education however; it is unclear how easily he read Latin. Early Life and Works His mother Màgia died in 1491 when Raphael was eight, followed on August 1, 1494 by his father, who had already remarried. Raphael was thus orphaned at eleven; his formal guardian became his only paternal uncle Bartolomeo, a priest, who subsequently engaged in litigation with his stepmother. He probably continued to live with his stepmother when not staying as an apprentice with a master. He had already shown talent, according to Vasari, who says that Raphael had been "a great help to his father". A self-portrait drawing from his teenage years shows his precocity. His father's workshop continued and, probably together with his stepmother, Raphael evidently played a part in managing it from a very early age. In Urbino, he came into contact with the works of Paolo Uccello, previously the court painter (d. 1475), and Luca Signorelli, who until 1498 was based in nearby Città di Castello. According to Vasari, his father placed him in the workshop of the Umbrian master Pietro Perugino as an apprentice "despite the tears of his mother". The evidence of an apprenticeship comes only from Vasari and another source, and has been disputed—eight was very early for an apprenticeship to begin. An alternative theory is that he received at least some training from Timoteo Viti, who acted as court painter in Urbino from 1495.Most modern historians agree that Raphael at least worked as an assistant to Perugino from around 1500; the influence of Perugino on Raphael's early work is very clear: "probably no other pupil of genius has ever absorbed so much of his master's teaching as Raphael did", according to Wölfflin. Vasari wrote that it was impossible to distinguish between their hands at this period, but many modern art historians claim to do better and detect his hand in specific areas of works by Perugino or his workshop. Apart from stylistic closeness, their techniques are very similar as well, for example having paint applied thickly, using an oil varnish medium, in shadows and darker garments, but very thinly on flesh areas. An excess of resin in the varnish often causes cracking of areas of paint in the works of both masters. The Perugino workshop was active in both Perugia and Florence, perhaps maintaining two permanent branches. Raphael is described as a "master", that is to say fully trained, in December 1500. His first documented work was the Baronci altarpiece for the church of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino in Città di Castello, a town halfway between Perugia and Urbino. Evangelista da Pian di Meleto, who had worked for his father, was also named in the commission. It was commissioned in 1500 and finished in 1501; now only some cut sections and a preparatory drawing remain. In the following years he painted works for other churches there, including the Mond Crucifixion (about 1503) and the Brera Wedding of the Virgin (1504), and for Perugia, such as the Oddi Altarpiece. He very probably also visited Florence in this period. These are large works, some in fresco, where Raphael confidently marshals his compositions in the somewhat static style of Perugino. He also painted many small and exquisite cabinet paintings in these years, probably mostly for the connoisseurs in the Urbino court, like the Three Graces and St. Michael, and he began to paint Madonnas and portraits. In 1502 he went to Siena at the invitation of another pupil of Perugino, Pinturicchio, "being a friend of Raphael and knowing him to be a draughtsman of the highest quality" to help with the cartoons, and very likely the designs, for a fresco series in the Piccolomini Library in Siena Cathedral. He was evidently already much in demand even at this early stage in his career. Influence of Florence Raphael led a "nomadic" life, working in various centres in Northern Italy, but spent a good deal of time in Florence, perhaps from about 1504. Although there is traditional reference to a "Florentine period...

"Arch dedicated to Hercules" and "Arch dedicated to Bellerophon" Splendid and very rare etchings belonging to a suite of subjects executed for the preparations of the "Celebrations for the entry into Antwerp of the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinando of Habsburg-Spain on 17 April 1635". The sketches for the decorations were all drawn by Sir Peter Paul Rubens and the execution of the etchings was entrusted to Van Thulden. Bottom left: P.P. Rubens. Bottom right: G. Gervatius (who was commissioned to bring together the illustrations of the arches in a special volume) and Van Thulden. Laid paper with watermark - copper imprint - margins - excellent condition. At the end of 1634 Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was invited to make a series of drawings to decorate the city of Antwerp on the occasion of the solemn entry of the infant cardinal Ferdinand of Habsburg (1609-1641) who, after his death of Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia (1633), Spanish governor of the southern Netherlands, had been elected as his successor. Generally in these circumstances, the itinerary was articulated through a series of stations and the city - in its main urban hubs - was adorned with decorations and ephemeral apparatuses which, without solution of continuity, covered the facades of the palaces, churches and convents facing the parade axis of the celebratory itinerary, testifying to the participatory role of the various public and private institutions that took part in the feast1. As had happened for the entrances of Charles V in 1520, of Philip II in 1549 and of the archdukes Albert and Isabella in 1599, also in this case, on 17 April 1635, the most important streets and squares of Antwerp were enriched with arrangements: temporary altars, four scenarios, a portico and large triumphal arches built in wood, over twenty meters height, decorated with paintings, sculptures and allegorical scenes. The references to the ancient alluded in this case to the greatness of the Habsburgs and to the merits of Ferdinand for the victory obtained over the Protestant armies of Sweden and their German allies. The choice to use the triumphal arch has its roots in the "city of the popes" and must be read as a connection with the triumphal and modern arches, with Rome and with the "possession" ceremony, placing the emphasis on its centuries-old use . In the elaboration of the drawings and sketches Rubens proved to be a true connoisseur of architecture, but what is most surprising about the artist is the casual use of architectural language and fidelity to sixteenth-century Roman models. In order for the memory of these works to be perpetuated over time, some artists were commissioned to etch the ephemeral apparatuses and, under the guidance of the painter Theodor van Thulden...