Louis XII and Anne of Brittany at Court, Antique Chromolithograph, 1882
€ 165
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1882
Mapmaker / artist
A. Benard, lithographer
Publisher
Georges Hurtrel, artiste-editeur, 35 rue d'Assas, Paris
Technique
Chromolithograph
Coloring
Printed color
Sheet size
28 × 19 cm (11.0 × 7.5 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14437-1-3
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Even age toning. Handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners complete.
About this sheet
Louis XII, Anne of Brittany and their court, an original antique chromolithograph from Paul Lacroix's Louis XII et Anne de Bretagne, published in Paris by Georges Hurtrel in 1882. The plate reproduces a whole illuminated manuscript page in facsimile: Louis XII and Anne of Brittany seated with their ladies under a green and gold canopy, a courtier kneeling before them and a company of armored men at arms in the foreground. Six lines of gothic script open with a flowered initial D, and the page is framed on all four sides by a border of acanthus, flowers and strawberries with a winged dragon and two grotesque beasts on a gold ground.
The plate comes from Louis XII et Anne de Bretagne, Chronique de l'Histoire de France, by Paul Lacroix, the prolific historian who wrote as the Bibliophile Jacob, published in Paris in 1882 by Georges Hurtrel, artiste-editeur, of 35 rue d'Assas. The title page announces fourteen chromolithographs, fifteen large plates outside the text and about two hundred drawings in the text, all taken from originals of the period, and the work was produced under Hurtrel's own direction. The plate is a chromolithograph, printed in many colors with gold by the Imprimerie Lemercier et Cie, one of the leading lithographic printers of Paris, whose imprint appears at the lower right. The lithographer, A. Benard, signs at the lower left. The color is printed, not applied by hand.
Plates like this brought the illuminated manuscripts and treasures of the royal library within reach of ordinary readers for the first time, and they remain among the most vivid images of the court of Louis XII available to collectors. Framed in a gilt or dark wood frame it makes a striking single picture, and it also groups well with other plates from the same book.
Even age toning. Handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners complete.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
