Lot n° 467
Estimation :
200 - 300
EUR
Result without fees
Result
: 200EUR
16th CENTURY FRENCH SCHOOL. - Lot 467
16th CENTURY FRENCH SCHOOL.
The tournament where King Henry II was wounded to death on the last of June 1559.
Print signed Jean Perrissim (1536-1616), made with Jacques Tortorel (1557-1575), plate n°3, dated 1570.
H. : 36 cm - L. : 50 cm.
History: Taken from a larger suite representing the Wars of Religion, this print served as a model for one of the tapestries of the hanging of which the National Museum of the Renaissance preserves three pieces (E.Cl. 2755 to 2757). Artists from Lyon, Calvinists Jacques Tortorel and Jean Perrissin, then refugees in Geneva, received a commission from two Flemish merchants for engravings about the civil wars that tore France apart. The collection, printed in 1569-1570, was to be followed by a second volume continuing the story, which never saw the light of day. The events depicted range from June 1559 to March 1570: from the events leading up to the first civil war to the battles of the third war. These woodcuts, distributed by booksellers and peddlers, were very successful and were the subject of numerous reissues over the centuries. The Tournoi des Tournelles, represents the episode during which the King of France was mortally wounded.
In April 1559, the peace of Cateau-Cambrésis put an end to the conflict between France, Spain and England. This peace was consolidated by two marriages, Henri II offering his daughter to the King of Spain Philippe II, and her sister to the Duke of Savoy Emmanuel-Philibert. Festivities to celebrate these events are organized in Paris at the end of June and include several days of jousting and tournaments. On June 30, Henry II was wounded during a joust against the Count of Montgomery: while Montgomery struck the king awkwardly in the chest, his spear broke and a fragment, passing through the king's visor, lodged in his orbit. Henry II managed to hang on to his horse's neck until his assistants helped him down, but the injury proved fatal. Numerous ambassadors' r