Equile Joannis Austriaci Caroli v. Imp. F., : in quo omnis generis equorum ex varijs orbis partibus insignis delectus; / ad vivum omnes delineati a J. Stradano, et à P. Galleo editi.
Jan van der Straet, called Stradanus (Bruges 1523 - Florence 1605)
Category
Books
Date
c. 1578
Materials
Place of origin
Haarlem
Order this imageCollection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 3100867
Summary
Jan van der Straet, Equile Ioannis Austriaci Caroli V Imp. F., [Haarlem?, 1578?] Binding: Twentieth-century half brown morocco; cloth sides; gilt spine title 'Stradanus (J.) Equile 1578'; gilt edges; marbled endpapers.
Full description
"Un bellissimo libro di Cavalli ... tanto ben' osservato che veramenti è una maraviglia." ("A very beautiful book of Horses ... so well observed that truly it's a marvel.") This was the estimate of the Italian art historian Filippo Baldinucci, writing in 1681, a centruy after the appearance of van der Straet's 'Equile Ioannis Austriaci'. It was the first such series of horse illustrations to be printed, and its reputation ensured that it continued to be issued under various titles until around 1700. The owner of the horses was Don John of Austria (1547-78), the victor of the battle of Lepanto, and it was doubtless he who originally commissioned the engravings. The artist, Jan van der Straet (1523-1605), often referred to in Latinised formm as Johannes Stradanus, had followed his parton to the Low Countries when Don John became regent there in 1576. Van der Straet was a native of Bruges, but spent much of his career in Italy. Initially most active as a designer of tapestries, he took advantage of the relatively new medium of engraving to make his work more widely known, using engravers and publishersin his native country, at that time the greatest centre for the medium. His association with the engraver and publisher Philips alle (1537-1612) began in 1574. Work probably started on the 'Equile' in 1578, with Hieronymus Wierix (1553-1619) providing the engravings after van der Straet's designs. Two unlooked-for events, however, temporarily put the project into abeyance. The first was the untimely death of Don John on 1 October, 1578; the second was the imprisonment of Wierix for accidentally killing a barmaid in a brawl in 1579. A new patron was needed, and the one whose name appears on the title page is Alphonso Felice d'Avalos y Aragon (1556-1619). Work could now resume with a different group of engravers. The title page is signed by Adriaen Collaert (c. 1560-1618), probably a pupil of Galle and who was to become his son-in-law a few years later. Other plates were executed by Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617) and Hans Collaert I (c. 1525/30-80), Adriaen's father, to whom 'Dacus' and four unsigned plates are attributed. The complete work probably appeared shortly after 1580. In the 'Equile' the horses appear in natural landscapes, riderless in all but one plate, but portrayed in poses (rearing, trotting, galloping) which suggest the exercises of the riding school. These poses often feature in the grand equestrian portraits of the ensuing centruy by Velázquez, Rubens and others, suggesting that the work of van der Straet was admired and taken for a model by greater artists. Text adapted from William Hale's entry in 'Treasures from Lord Fairhaven's Library at Anglesey Abbey', 2013, cat. 2, pp. 42-3.
Bibliographic description
[1], 17, [17] leaves of plates : ill. (engravings) ; obl. fol. Plates numbered 272-306 in ink, and 68-[1]02 in pencil. Provenance: Twentieth-century armorial bookplate, signed G.S. 24 [i.e. 1924]: 'Urban Huttleston Rogers Broughton' [i.e.: Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Lord Fairhaven (1896-1966)]. Binding: Twentieth-century half brown morocco; cloth sides; gilt spine title 'Stradanus (J.) Equile 1578'; gilt edges; marbled endpapers.
Provenance
Acquired by Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Lord Fairhaven (1896-1966) and then bequeathed by him to the National Trust with the house and the rest of the contents in 1966.
Makers and roles
Jan van der Straet, called Stradanus (Bruges 1523 - Florence 1605), artist Philip Galle (Haarlem 1537 - Antwerp 1612), engraver (printmaker)