Pair of 17th Century Chinese Huaniaohua Paintings with Gilded Frames

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

18th century Italian spolvero fresco pattern printed onto canvas and framed with an antique red frame and adorned with red ruby stones. Spolvero is an artistic method of transferrin...

18th century Italian spolvero fresco pattern printed onto canvas and framed with a custom frame and citrine crystals. Spolvero is an artistic method of transferring a design from a ...

18th century Italian spolvero fresco pattern printed onto canvas and framed with an antique wood frame. Spolvero is an artistic method of transferring a design from a print to the p...

Antique print titled 'France XVIIth Cent - France XVIIe Siegle - Frankreich XVIIth'. Chromolithograph of French 17th century office. This print originates from 'Le Costume Historique...

Antique print titled '17th Century - XVIIc Siècle - XVIILes Jahrhundert'. Chromolithograph of decorative paintings from the palace Fontainebleau ornaments. This print originates from...

"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...

Antique print titled 'Europa XVIIth Cent - Europe XVIIe Siecle - Europa XVIItes Jahr'. Chromolithograph of European 17th century furniture. Thi...