Plate 19: Triumphal arch, elevation of the front, surmounted by a cloud bearing Ferdinand and royal ancestors; 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 scenes from the life of Emperor Charles V: counselling Ferdinand at top, submission of Germany at center, victory at Pavia at center left, and conquest of Africa at center right.
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