About this sheet
This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in color with gold, lettered "GRAND SCEAU EN OR, DE LOUIS XII ROI DE FRANCE." The two faces of the seal are shown side by side on a deep blue ground, joined by a short green band. On the obverse the crowned king sits enthroned holding a scepter, on a field strewn with fleurs de lis, with a shield bearing the Jerusalem cross beside him; the Latin legend round the rim names him king of the French, of Naples and of Jerusalem and duke of Milan. The reverse is a plain dished disc with a central medallion of two crowned shields, one of France and one quartered.
The running head reads "SIGILLOGRAPHIE". The credits are "Ferdinand Séré, del.", "Chromolith. Lemercier à Paris." and "H. Moulin lith." The caption reads "GRAND SCEAU EN OR, DE LOUIS XII ROI DE FRANCE. d'après l'original, au Cab. des Méd. de la Bibl. Nat. de Paris." (Great gold seal of Louis XII, King of France, after the original in the Cabinet des Médailles of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris), followed by "F. Séré direxit". Louis XII reigned from 1498 to 1515.
Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance, histoire et description des mœurs et usages, du commerce et de l'industrie, des sciences, des arts, des littératures et des beaux-arts en Europe was edited by Paul Lacroix, who also wrote as the Bibliophile Jacob, with Ferdinand Séré as artistic director, and it was published in Paris in five volumes between 1848 and 1851. Its plates reproduce objects, manuscripts, seals and ornament of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and every sheet carries a running head naming the work, the section and the plate number. The Sigillographie plates of the fourth volume are given over to seals, drawn from impressions and matrices in public archives and collections and identified in the lettering by owner and location.
The landscape sheet works well framed on its own, where the gold and blue carry across a room.
Condition: Light age toning, a little darker toward the edges; occasional small spots in the margins.
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.
