signed, inscribed and dated ‘frans floris fecit/ Cock excudebat/ 1552/ Hæc […] Superba’
(in the plate)
etching and drypoint
1552
31.8 x 43.9 cm (plate); 32.4 x 44.6 cm (sheet)
Hollstein 4, The New Hollstein 156, first state (of three) [1]
A very good impression, there is an unobtrusive stain in the lower right corner, there are
two creases which are only visible on the verso, the sheet is in otherwise good condition
Provenance:
Hillinger collection (L. 4334).

This large print, completely filled with dense etchwork that leaves no space of the sheet unused, is a particularly early etching and the only print by Frans Floris of which the attribution is accepted. [2] In the centre of the composition stands Victoria, the personification of Habsburg victory against the Ottoman Turks. She is surrounded by twisted and tormented prisoners that are tumbling over each other. The print relates to a lost painting by Floris that was part of the triumphal arch of the Genoese Nation which was
constructed for the entry of emperor Charles V and the future king Philip II of Spain into Antwerp in 1549. A woodcut by Jost Amman (1539-1591) published in 1565 is thought to be much closer to the original painting and differs in many details from Floris’ etching; for example, Victoria holds a lance and shield and the prisoners can be clearly identified as Turks. [3] Furthermore, there is an account by the Spanish chronicler Juan Cristóbal Calvete de Estrella that described the painting. [4] The text underneath the composition by
the Genoese poet Stephano Ambrosio Schiappalaria recalls the triumphal arch and asks the regents to pursue the Turks by land and sea as the Habsburg Empire, even after their victory, still faced threats from the forces of Suleiman the Magnificent.

As Edward Wouk has observed ‘Floris used this imposing print to proclaim his authority
as an interpreter of Italian art, both ancient and modern: the antique trophies are reminiscent of his drawings of the base of Trajan’s Column, the figure of Victoria derives
from a Greco-Roman statue of Minerva from the Palazzo della Valle-Capranica sculpture
court in Rome, and many of the struggling prisoners imitate the famous Sibyls and Ignudi
of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel.’ [5]

[1] E.H. Wouk, The New Hollstein. Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700.
Frans Floris. Part II, Ouderkerk aan den Ijssel, 2011, pp. 184-187.
[2] E.H. Wouk, in Hieronymus Cock. The Renaissance in Print, exhib. cat., Leuven, Museum and Paris,
Institut Néerlandais, 2013, p. 314.
[3] E.H. Wouk, op. cit., 2011, no. 157, pp. 188-189.
[4] E.H. Wouk, op. cit. 2013, p. 314.
[5] E.H. Wouk, op. cit., p. 314.