20% off of purchases $100 promo code: TWENTY

1721 Copper Engraving Portrait Maria Anna Spain Holy Roman Empire Royalty EUM1

1721 Copper Engraving Portrait Maria Anna Spain Holy Roman Empire Royalty EUM1

Regular price $430.00 USD
Unit price  per 

This is an original 1721 black and white copper engraving of "Maria Römische Kaÿserin." This is a portrait of Maria Anna of Spain, Archduchess of Austria, Infanta of Spanish King Philip II and Margaret of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and Holy Roman Empress as the first wife of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor. The portrait is surrounded by a beautiful decorative motif mimicking a frame set against a strongly cross-hatched and etched background. The design features a subtly ornate frame upon which the heraldic, two-headed Quarter Eagle sits, drawing back drapery from the portrait and framing the Crown of the Austrian Empire. The drapery flows down the left and right side of the frame, flanking the portrait before meeting a botanical design at the bottom of the image.

CONDITION

This 290+ year old Item is rated Very Fine +++. No creases. No natural defects.No surface rub.No tears. Light moisture wrinkling - center. Please note: There is a plate impression bordering the image in this print.

  • Product Type: Original Copper Engraving; Black / White
  • Grade: Very Fine +++
  • Dimensions: Approximately 8 x 13.5 inches; 20 x 34 cm
  • Authentication: Serial-Numbered Certificate of Authenticity w/ Full Provenance
  • Protection: Packaged in a custom archival sleeve with an acid-free black board (great for display, gift-giving, and preservation)

Period Paper is pleased to offer an extremely rare and impressive early eighteenth century collection of biographies and portrait engravings and etchings, produced in Leipzig, Germany in 1721 and 1722. Included are notable monarchs, rulers, religious figures, and members of notable Houses throughout Europe, including several genealogical charts of dynastic lines, spanning the sixteenth to early eighteenth centuries. The collection is comprised of exquisitely engraved and etched copper portrait plates framed by varying decorative motifs, all engraved by Johann Friedrich Rosbach. Many of the portraits include separate biographical pieces ranging in length from a single paragraph to several pages for more notable European monarchs and emperors. If present, the accompanying text is in German and is composed of beautiful woodcut text, with most pages containing elegantly etched drop cap initials, head-and tail-pieces and vignettes. The superb, folio-sized stock upon which the collection is engraved and etched employed the latest advances in eighteenth century paper making and highlights the era's predilection for strong, lightly sized paper with a fine structure and smooth surface. The paper's characteristics are thus similar to Japanese Gampi, and the result is well-preserved and crisp images that exceptionally capture Rosbach's fluid and sharp line work. This collection represents a unique opportunity to collect a valuable part of European history stunningly composed and illustrated.

Keywords specific to this image: Habsburg Empire, Habsburg Dynasty, Habsburg Monarchy, Austrian Monarchy, European History, European Nobility, European Royalty

EUM1C21