16th Century Decorative Art

Copper engraving, printing on paper. Verso text is Latin, original hand coloring. From: From: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Antwerpen, Gillis van den Rade, 1575. Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) The maker of the 'first atlas', the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570), was born on 4 April 1527 into an old Antwerp family. He learned Latin and studied Greek and mathematics. Abraham and his sisters Anne and Elizabeth took up map colouring. He was admitted to the Guild of St. Luke as an "illuminator of maps." Besides colouring maps, Ortelius was a dealer in antiques, coins, maps, and books, with the book and map trade gradually becoming his primary occupation. Business went well because his means permitted him to start an extensive collection of medals, coins, antiques, and a library of many volumes. In addition, he travelled a lot and visited Italy and France, made contacts everywhere with scholars and editors, and maintained extensive correspondence with them. In 1564 he published his first map, a large and ambitious world wall map. The inspiration for this map may well have been Gastaldi's large world map. In 1565 he published a map of Egypt and a map of the Holy Land, a large map of Asia followed. In 1568 the production of individual maps for his atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum was already in full swing. He completed the atlas in 1569, and in May of 1570, the Theatrum was available for sale. It was one of the most expensive books ever published. This first edition contained seventy maps on fifty-three sheets. Franciscus Hogenberg engraved the maps. Later editions included Additamenta (additions), resulting in Ortelius' historical atlas, the Parergon, mostly bound together with the atlas. The Parergon can be called a truly original work of Ortelius, who drew the maps based on his research. The importance of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum for geographical knowledge in the last quarter of the sixteenth century is difficult to overemphasize. Nothing was like it until Mercator's atlas appeared twenty-five years later. Demand for the Theatrum was remarkable. Some 24 editions appeared during Ortelius's lifetime and another ten after his death in 1598. Editions were published in Dutch, German, French, Spanish, English, and Italian. The number of map sheets grew from 53 in 1570 to 167 in 1612 in the last edition. In 1577, engraver Philip Galle...

Incredible original and rare european shield in bronze with careful chiseling depicting a battle circa 1700. Fantastic.

IACOPO FIAMENGO 16/17th century Pair of Engraved Panels 'Americae Retectio' Pair of engraved panels depicting explorers. Fragments of decoration from a Renaissance cabinet. It...

Birth of Christ. Painted glass. Following school models of RAIMONDI, Marcantonio. Painted glass with golden details that shows the scene of the Birth...

We have a unique Japanese aesthetic sense. And only we can introduce unique items through our purchasing channels in Japan and the experience we have gained so far, in such a way th...

Crucifixion. Enamel on copper. Limoges, France, 16th century. Rectangular copper plate that has been given a blue finish on the back and on whose front the Crucifixion is depicted. Jesus appears still alive, on the Cross, dressed in a small blue loincloth that moves in the wind; to His right, Mary and Saint John dressed in tunic and mantle, and on the other side, Mary Magdalene holding the feet of Jesus, a figure and Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea; note both the green of the ground and the golden touches that enhance the figures and the background, with trees and not an open landscape. Limoges enamels are known as a series of metal pieces (copper, silver, gold) with a religious theme decorated with the champlevé enamel technique using a series of colors (blue, green, white...), inherited or inspired by the works of the Monastery of Silos (Spain), and with a great boom throughout Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Production had already declined by 1370, when Limoges was sacked by the English. However, towards the end of the 15th century it resurfaced, but already with the “painted enamel” technique and clearly Renaissance models in terms of themes, iconography, clothing, lines, compositions, etc. Compare the 16th-century Limoges plaque...

16th Century Annunciation High relief in carved, lacquered and gilded wood, measures height. 77 cm, width. 50 cm The high-relief table, in carved, lacquered and gilded wood, dep...

Polidoro de 'Renzi, known as Polidoro da Lanciano (Lanciano, 1510/1515 - Venice, 1565), attr. Madonna with Child and San Giovannino Measures: Oil on panel, 50 x 41 cm - with frame...

Spanish window of pine wood panels, studded, with iron reinforcements. 16th Century Measurements: 85 x 8 x 81 cm. Good conditions, original and c...

Antique Print of Cusco 'Peru' by Münster, circa 1598 Antique Map of Peru and Bolivia by Wyld '1845'

16th century Spanish pair of coat of arms painted on wood, belonging to a period "artesonado" Spanish wooden ceiling.

Original handcol. Woodcut illustrating the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. It shows the pope, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, abbots, priests and at the bottom monks and lay...