France - Battle of Hondschoote; Jubé de La Pérelle / Rapet - Bataille de Hondscoote. Houchard – Septembre 1793 - 1819

Technical data

Title: Bataille de Hondscoote. Houchard – September 1793.
Author of the editorial work: Auguste Jubé de La Pérelle (1765–1824).
Engraver: Edme Bovinet (1767–1837), signed “Bovinet sculp.” at the bottom right.
Draftsman: Martinet, signed “Martinet del.” at the bottom left.
Publisher: Rapet.
Place: Paris.
Period: 1819–1820; depicted episode: battle of Hondschoote, 8 September 1793.
Technique: copper engraving on laid paper, executed in aquaforte and burin, with later manual coloring.
Support: paper.
Dimensions: sheet about 28.5 × 44.5 cm; incised part about 23.5 × 32.5 cm.
Composition: single plate taken from Le Temple de la gloire, ou les Fastes militaires de la France, depuis le règne de Louis XIV jusqu’à nos jours, tomo II, reference page 123.
Inscriptions: heading “Le Temple de la Gloire”; indications “Tome 2” and “Page 123” on the upper margins; title and caption in the lower margin.

Description

Historical engraving depicting the battle of Hondschoote, fought in the French Flanders in September 1793, during the wars of the First Coalition. The composition features a broad battlefield crossed by infantry and cavalry detachments, with artillery, soldiers wounded and fallen in the foreground.

On the right emerges a horseman officer in the act of raising his sabre, the narrative focal point of a scene animated by gestural commotion and opposing movements. Military formations appear on successive planes, progressively enveloped by the smoke of battle, while a vast cloudy sky heightens the dramatic character of the whole.

The copper engraving shows with fine detail uniforms, arms, horses and vegetation, alternating fine lines with dense shading. The later manual color distinguishes the different components of the scene through blue, red, green and brown tones.

Historical-artistic note

The plate belongs to the Temple de la gloire by Auguste Jubé de La Pérelle, French military and historian, conceived as an illustrated survey of France’s military feats from the reign of Louis XIV to the early 19th century.

The battle of Hondschoote saw French forces commanded by General Jean-Nicolas Houchard defeat the coalition troops and contribute to liberating Dunkirk from the siege. The representation falls within the tradition of celebratory military illustration, in which the reconstruction of the event is accompanied by a compositional staging aimed at exalting the courage and action of the protagonists.

Condition Report

Copy with wide margins and slight warping of the support. Light browning of the paper, more evident along the edges, with sporadic small foxing spots. Slight marginal creases and irregularities at the corners. On the verso, text-free, there is a rectangular area of yellowing, accompanied by scattered brown specks. The figurative part is clearly legible.