Hand-Colored Portrait of Isabeau of Bavaria, Queen of France, ca. 1420 (after 1827, ca. 1900 edition)
Magnificent hand-colored engraving of Isabeau of Bavaria (1370–1435), Queen of France as the wife of Charles VI, shown in her regal costume around 1420. The print presents Isabeau in full state dress, wearing an elaborately patterned gown enriched with gold embroidery, sumptuous brocades, and fur trimming. Draped across her shoulders is an ornate mantle lined with ermine and adorned with a rich floral and geometric design, flowing onto the ground as a long train of state.
Her crown is distinctive: a high, gem-studded red headdress surmounted with fleur-de-lis ornaments, under which a fine veil falls behind her shoulders. The jewels at her neckline and wrists underscore her elevated position within the French court. The engraving captures the magnificence of late medieval royal attire, highlighting the display of wealth and authority that characterized ceremonial occasions at the Valois court.
This portrait originates from the Galerie Française de Femmes Célèbres (Paris, 1827), designed by Louis-Marie Lanté and engraved by Georges Jacques Gatine. The present impression, with its delicate hand-coloring, comes from a later ca. 1900 reprint, which reissued these historically important plates for collectors and scholars of costume.
Isabeau of Bavaria, originally from Munich, played a prominent and controversial role in the politics of France during the Hundred Years’ War, her queenship marked by both splendor and turbulence.
Condition report: Very good, with bright and careful hand-coloring. Paper clean with wide margins, slight age-toning only at edges. Blank verso.
Framing tips: Best presented in a gilt or black frame with a wide ivory or cream mount. To emphasize the jewel tones of the crown and robe, a secondary mat in deep red or gold can be used for contrast.
Technique: Hand-colored engraving (later impression, ca. 1900) Maker: After Louis-Marie Lanté (artist) and Georges Jacques Gatine (engraver), Paris, 1827
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