Paesi Bassi / Francia - Doullens (Dorlens); Adriaen Huberti - Battaglia e Assedio di Doullens (1595) - 1581-1600

Rare and spectacular contemporaneous copperplate of 1595 depicting the bloody siege and assault on the city of Doullens by Spanish troops, published in Antwerp by Adriaen Huberti and preserved in a magnificent original inking.

This extraordinary and exceptionally well-documented military chart constitutes an iconographic testimony of utmost importance for the geopolitical and military history of Renaissance Europe. The plate immortalizes in real time the dramatic events of July 1595, when the imposing Spanish armies of the Spanish Netherlands, under the command of Governor-General Pedro Henriquez de Acevedo, Count of Fuentes, laid siege to the strategic fortress of Doullens and intercepted the French relief army, triggering a brutal field battle that culminated in the total rout of the Royal forces led by Admiral Villars and the Duke of Bouillon, followed by the fierce sack of the fortress. The specimen boasts exceptional collectability value thanks to the signature AHuberti excu: cum Pri: Regia Bußchere clearly legible in the lower right margin, which directly links the print to the famous workshop of Adriaen Huberti in Antwerp, made in collaboration with the master engraver Bußchere.

The visual composition unfolds with an awe-inspiring aerial perspective, dynamic and richly narrative. On the left of the sheet the detailed plan of the city of Doullens and its three-hundred-year-old castle is outlined, with the walls breached and wrapped in thick clouds of smoke from the bombardments. The central and right portions of the sheet document with absolute military rigor the phases of the clash, showing a mighty line of Spanish cannons in full fire defended by gabions, the advancing ranks of Spanish infantry (Eßpaignols), Flemings (Walons) and German Landsknechts (Allemans), and the overwhelming charge of the cavalry of the Bands d'Ordonnances. In the upper right corner the final engagement and the massacre of the French heavy cavalry in retreat among the woods are magnificently illustrated, while in the lower left one observes the figure of the Count of Fuentes on horseback directing operations and supervising the construction of trenches and circular hydraulic redoubts. The lower margin is completed by a bilingual bilingual inscription in Dutch and Old French certifying the fortress's capture by assault on July 31, 1595. The specimen is in excellent overall condition, printed on sturdy contemporaneous paper with watermark, characterized by a clear, deep, richly contrasted black inking, with sound margins on all four sides and a completely white reverse.

Dimensions 23 x 36 cm
Will be shipped by courier