The Game of the Swiss, Fifteenth Century Caricature, Antique Print, 1849

A long row of figures seated and standing around a gaming table covered in green cloth, each one identified by name in the lettering beneath: the King of France, the Swiss, the Duke of Venice, the Pope, the Emperor, the Kings of Spain and England, the Duke of Wurtemberg, the Count Palatine, Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, Ludovico il Moro Duke of Milan, the Dukes of Lorraine and Savoy, the Marquis of Montferrat and Dame Marguerite. The sheet is lettered as the reverse of the Jeu des Suisses, fifteenth century, from the Leber collection in the library at Rouen.

Paul Lacroix, the bibliophile who wrote under the name Le Bibliophile Jacob, and the artist Ferdinand Sere produced Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance in Paris between 1848 and 1851. The present sheet is from Tome Second of 1849. The volume is remembered for the quality of its chromolithography, much of it printed by Lemercier of the rue de Seine, and for the care with which its draughtsmen copied originals that in several cases have since been damaged or lost.

This is political satire of the Italian wars turned into a card game, with every great power of Europe seated at one table and the Swiss mercenaries sweeping the stakes. It is the best hook in the volume: a named cast of fifteen rulers in one picture. The horizontal format is made for a space above a desk or a games table.

Even age toning. Handling soiling along the bottom, left and right edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners complete.

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