Flemish Votive Lamp, Fifteenth Century, Antique Print, 1851

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in olive green and bronze tones, lettered "LAMPE VOTIVE, FLANDRES, XVe Siècle. Collection de Mr d'Huyvetter à Gand." The lamp hangs from a short chain. Two arms ending in animal heads cross above a pair of shields, and below them a cylindrical band carries three lines of Gothic lettering in Flemish. A ring of pointed, leaf shaped plates spreads around the base of the band, and beneath hangs a rectangular frame with animal head finials and a large ring. The metal is drawn with clear highlights against the plain cream ground.

The caption translates as "votive lamp, Flanders, fifteenth century, collection of Mr. d'Huyvetter at Ghent." The running head reads "AMEUBLEMENT RELIGIEUX". The credits read "Ferdinand Séré del.", "Chromolith Lemercier à Paris." and "H. Moulin lith.", with "F. Séré direxit" beneath the caption.

Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance was published in Paris in five volumes between 1848 and 1851. Paul Lacroix, who also wrote as the Bibliophile Jacob, edited the text, and Ferdinand Séré directed the illustrations, which is why his name and the word direxit stand beneath every plate. The work surveys the manners, crafts, sciences and arts of medieval and Renaissance Europe, and its chromolithographed plates record objects held around 1850 in churches, museums and private collections. This plate is from the fourth volume, dated 1851, in the section on church furniture.

The single object centered on the sheet makes a simple, striking picture.

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