Cornelis Martin (1567-1621) - Baldovino di Costantinopoli, XVIII Conte di Fiandra — Comtes de Flandre - 1580

This magnificent copper engraving constitutes the historical portrait and apparatus of Baldovino di Costantinopoli (Baldovino IX di Fiandra), here recorded under his title as the eighteenth Count of Flanders (indicated at the bottom as Bauduin De Constantinople 18e Comte), included in the volume Les genealogies, et anciennes descentes des forestiers et comtes de Flandre, published in Antwerp around 1580 by the Flemish scholar Cornelis Martin. The scene shows the sovereign in full-length, in a solemn and triumphant pose as an emperor, clad in plate armor completed by a long imperial mantle and a gold royal crown with a red cap. In his right hand he firmly holds a war sword set vertically, while his left hand raised supports the cruciform globe, a symbol of the universal power attained with the coronation as Latin Emperor of Constantinople. To his left, lying on a stone plinth beside a tournament helm richly feathered in the tones of red and blue, appears a large heraldic shield displaying the imperial double-headed eagle charged in the center by the shield of Flanders. The background offers a landscape opening with hills, featuring a fortified castle on the left, a stone arched bridge, and a watercourse flowing through the valleys. The plate, originally drawn by the painter Pieter Baltens and impressed with extraordinary intaglio definition, bears at the top the heading “Le dixhvytiesme Conte de Flandre,” beside the page number 89, while in the lower corner of the engraved mirror the plate number 18 appears. The specimen’s value is magnificently enhanced by a refined contemporaneous watercolor coloration executed entirely by hand and by ancient pen marks and ink signatures inscribed in the lower margin by a past collector.

Dimensions 18 x 26 cm
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