Pair of Antique Royal Portraits, Charles VIII and Louise of Savoy, 1882

A set of two original antique chromolithographs of Charles VIII and Louise of Savoy from Paul Lacroix's Louis XII et Anne de Bretagne, published in Paris by Georges Hurtrel in 1882, sold together as one set of two sheets. The first sheet reproduces Charles VIII, King of France from 1483 to 1498 and Louis XII's predecessor, in a black cap with a jeweled badge, a fur collared crimson robe and a heavy gold chain of scallop shells, the collar of the Order of Saint Michael. The portrait sits inside a gilt border of fleurs de lis above a lettered caption panel, after the drawing in the Gaignieres collection at the Bibliotheque Nationale. The second sheet reproduces Louise of Savoy, Duchess of Angouleme, mother of Francis I and twice regent of France, in a black hood over a white coif, a dark gown and ermine sleeves. The portrait sits inside a gilt border of interlaced ornament above a lettered caption panel, after the drawing in the Gaignieres collection at the Bibliotheque Nationale.

Louis XII et Anne de Bretagne is one of the lavish illustrated histories published in Paris in the 1880s, issued by Georges Hurtrel, artiste-editeur. Its text is by Paul Lacroix, the Bibliophile Jacob, and its fourteen chromolithographs reproduce miniatures, portraits, glass and objects from the Bibliotheque Nationale, the Musee de Cluny and the Musee d'Artillerie. The book is dated 1882 on its title page. The plates were printed in many colors with gold by the Imprimerie Lemercier et Cie of Paris, whose imprint appears at the lower right of each, and lithographed by L. Chataignon. The color is printed throughout, not applied by hand.

The two portraits after the Gaignieres drawings were lithographed by L. Chataignon in the same gilt frame and lettered panel, a king and a regent who face each other naturally on a wall. Plates like this brought the illuminated manuscripts and treasures of the royal library within reach of ordinary readers for the first time, and they remain among the most vivid images of the court of Louis XII available to collectors. For a collector of French history, heraldry or manuscript illumination they are a ready made group from one book.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along the edges of both sheets. Foxing over much of the margin of both sheets. All corners complete on every sheet. Brown marks on both sheets.

These are original antique prints, not modern reproductions. They are two original sheets sold together as one lot, and the set is never split. This item is sold unframed.