Tomb Screen of Henry VII, Westminster Abbey, Antique Print, 1851

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in olive, bronze and brown tones, lettered "ENTOURAGE DE LA TOMBE DE HENRY VII, à l'Abbayé de Westminster". The plate shows the long rectangular screen in elevation. Its sides are made of two tiers of tall openings filled with Gothic tracery, with a doorway under a pointed arch set left of center. An openwork cresting with spiky pinnacles runs along the top, and above the door rise the crowned royal arms between two supporters over a band of lettering. Corner turrets of open lattice frame the whole, which stands on a low base.

The caption translates as "enclosure of the tomb of Henry VII, at Westminster Abbey." The running head reads "AMEUBLEMENT RELIGIEUX". The credits read "Arnout del.", "Chromolith. Lemercier." and "Kellerhoven 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. The screen stands in the Lady Chapel of Westminster Abbey around the tomb of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.

The wide format suits a space above a desk or a mantel.

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