Plate 12: Triumphal arch, elevation of the back facade, surmounted with the arms of Ferdinand and decorated with five mythical or heroic scenes; from Guillielmus Becanus's 'Serenissimi Principis Ferdinandi, Hispaniarum Infantis...'
Publisher Johannes Meursius Flemish
Not on view
On January 28, 1635, the city of Ghent celebrated the entry of Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Spain, the recently appointed governor of the Southern Netherlands. A group of Flemish artists were commissioned to create paintings for the decoration of two triumphal arches erected in the city's main square for the occasion. Though the majority of these canvases are now lost, the engravings in Guillielmus Becanus's 'Serenissimi Principis Ferdinandi, Hispaniarum Infantis, S.R.E. Cardinalis, Triumphalis Introitus in Flandriae Metropolim Gandavum', Antwerp [1636], illustrate what the series looked like. The Metropolitan Museum of Art owns 34 plates from the set of 42.
Triumphal arch decorated with five mythical or heroic scenes: Cybele in her chariot at top center; the voyage of the Argonauts at top right; Hannibal crossing the Alps at top left; Aeneas in Italy at lower left; and Achilles defeating Telephus at lower right.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
