Atlas François. à l'Usage de Monseigneur le Duc de Bourgogne Contenant les Cartes, et des Empires, Monarchies, Royaumes, et Etats du Monde.

About this artwork

Private gift

Art Historical Context

In the early eighteenth century, publishers in Amsterdam assembled grand atlases to give young European princes a working picture of trade routes, rival kingdoms, and colonial holdings. Romeyn de Hooghe supplied the etched frontispiece for this French edition prepared for the Duke of Burgundy, gathering personifications of continents and knowledge around a raised platform where charts are examined and exchanged. The upper half shows a bearded figure supporting the heavens while rays break through clouds, and the lower half gathers river gods and a woman pouring water from an urn; together they frame the title block as both foundation and conduit for the maps inside. The contrast between the crowded, active figures above and the steadier, almost architectural arrangement below turns scattered sources into a single, usable volume. The sheet measures 500 by 281 millimetres and belongs to the Rijksmuseum. Look at the small open book held by the helmeted soldier on the right: its blank pages receive the light that falls across the entire scene, marking the moment when raw reports become ordered geography.

About the Artist

Romeyn de Hooghe · 1645–1708

Romeyn de Hooghe (1645-1708) was a Dutch Baroque engraver, draughtsman, and political satirist who became the most prolific and versatile graphic artist of the Dutch Republic in the late seventeenth century. Born in Amsterdam, he rose to become one of early modern Europe's most important printmakers and a pioneering master of political satire. De Hooghe's significance extends far beyond his techn...