Fifteenth Century Lock, Vitel Collection, Antique Print, 1851

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in gray iron tones over bright red, lettered "SERRURE DU XVe SIÈCLE, appartenant à Mr Vitel à Paris." A single large lock plate fills the page, drawn in slight perspective so that its molded edges read as a shallow box. At its center the Virgin stands holding the Child beneath a canopy, with a shield charged with a fleur de lis below her. To the left a hooded saint holds a key and to the right another holds a sword, each under a pinnacled canopy. Turned columns flank the figures, and the outer borders are filled with pierced flamelike tracery and twisted rope moldings, with the red backing showing through every opening.

The running head reads "LE MOYEN-AGE ET LA RENAISSANCE." and "FERRONNERIE." (ironwork). The credits are "Rivaud del.", "Chromolith. Lemercier r. de Seine 57, Paris." and "Kellerhoven lith.", with "F. Séré direxit" at the foot. In English the caption reads: Lock of the fifteenth century, belonging to Mr. Vitel, Paris. Rivaud drew the plate, Kellerhoven put it on stone and Lemercier printed it in color.

Paul Lacroix, known also by his pen name the Bibliophile Jacob, edited Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance with Ferdinand Séré as director of the plates. The five volumes appeared in Paris between 1848 and 1851 and cover the customs, crafts, sciences and arts of medieval and Renaissance Europe, each chapter illustrated after objects then held in public and private collections. The present plate comes from the fourth volume of 1851.

The plate can be framed on its own or hung in a small group with other plates from the work.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.