Very rare and spectacular plate
The Land-Yacht of 1603, by Willem van Swanenburg after Jacques de Gheyn II. 1652
Willem van Swanenburg (c. 1580-1612)
Willem van Swanenburg was born in Leiden around 1580 into a family of artists and craftsmen. He was the son of Isaac Claesz van Swanenburg, a painter and designer who also trained several pupils—including, briefly, the young Rembrandt van Rijn. Growing up in this creative environment, Willem was exposed early to drawing, design, and the technical processes of art production.
Willem van Swanenburg worked primarily as an engraver and printmaker. His subjects included biblical scenes, allegorical and mythological compositions, historical events, and city views and architectural subjects. He often collaborated with painters and designers, translating their compositions into engravings that could be widely reproduced and distributed.
Jacques de Gheyn II (c. 1565 – 1629)
Dutch draughtsman, engraver, painter, and one of the most refined artists of the early Dutch Golden Age.
Jacques de Gheyn II was born in Antwerp around 1565, during a period when the city was one of Europe’s leading artistic centres. After the Fall of Antwerp in 1585, his family—like many Protestant families—moved north to the Dutch Republic. He eventually settled in Haarlem and later in The Hague. De Gheyn trained under the celebrated Flemish engraver Hendrick Goltzius, whose highly refined and virtuosic engraving style deeply influenced him.
He worked as an engraver and printmaker, and as a painter of portraits and small cabinet pictures, and was known as a draftsman of extraordinary precision and imagination.
One of de Gheyn’s most famous works is the illustrated military manual: Wapenhandelinghe van Roers, Musquetten ende Spiessen (Exercise of Arms, 1607). Commissioned by Prince Maurice of Nassau, the book contains meticulously detailed engravings demonstrating military drills for musketeers and pikemen. These images were not only artistic achievements but also practical instructional tools and were widely influential across Europe.
Jacques de Gheyn II died in The Hague in 1629. He left behind a substantial body of prints and drawings that influenced later Dutch artists. He was a pivotal figure in early 17th-century Dutch art—an artist who combined technical brilliance with scientific curiosity and courtly patronage.
CVRRVS VELIFERI ILLVSTRISSIMI PRINCIPIS MAVRITII VOLITANTES DVABVS HORIS SCHEVERINA A PETTEMVM AD QVATVORDECIM MILLIARIA HOLLANDICA, QVAE SINGVLA IVSTAE HORAE EXCEDVNT
Item Number: 32833 new Authenticity Guarantee
Category: Antique maps > Europe > The Netherlands
The Land-Yacht of 1603, by Willem van Swanenburg after Jacques de Gheyn II.
Title: CVRRVS VELIFERI ILLVSTRISSIMI PRINCIPIS MAVRITII VOLITANTES DVABVS HORIS SCHEVERINA A PETTEMVM AD QVATVORDECIM MILLIARIA HOLLANDICA, QVAE SINGVLA IVSTAE HORAE EXCEDVNT
Translation: The sailing cars of the most illustrious Prince Maurits, which in the space of two hours swept from Scheveningen to Petten, covering 14 Dutch miles, each of which requires a full hour of travel.
JD Gheyn Inventor - CISwanenburch sculp. - CJVisscher excudebat Cum gratia et previlegia.
With a dedication at the lower centre to Prince Maurits by Jacques de Gheyn.
Date of the first edition: 1603.
Date of this print: 1652.
Copper engraving, printed on paper.
Size (not including margins): 550 x 1250mm (21¾ x 49¼ inches).
Verso: Blank.
Condition: Printed from three plates, joined, with three vertical folds, short margins, backed, and margins extended with restoration paper, a few small repairs.
Condition Rating: A
Separate publication.
F. Müller: "Zeer zeldzaam".
Willem van Swanenburg (c. 1580-1612)
Willem van Swanenburg was born in Leiden around 1580 into a family of artists and craftsmen. He was the son of Isaac Claesz van Swanenburg, a painter and designer who also trained several pupils—including, briefly, the young Rembrandt van Rijn. Growing up in this creative environment, Willem was exposed early to drawing, design, and the technical processes of art production.
Willem van Swanenburg worked primarily as an engraver and printmaker. His subjects included biblical scenes, allegorical and mythological compositions, historical events, and city views and architectural subjects. He often collaborated with painters and designers, translating their compositions into engravings that could be widely reproduced and distributed.
Jacques de Gheyn II (c. 1565 – 1629)
Dutch draughtsman, engraver, painter, and one of the most refined artists of the early Dutch Golden Age.
Jacques de Gheyn II was born in Antwerp around 1565, during a period when the city was one of Europe’s leading artistic centres. After the Fall of Antwerp in 1585, his family—like many Protestant families—moved north to the Dutch Republic. He eventually settled in Haarlem and later in The Hague. De Gheyn trained under the celebrated Flemish engraver Hendrick Goltzius, whose highly refined and virtuosic engraving style deeply influenced him.
He worked as an engraver and printmaker, and as a painter of portraits and small cabinet pictures, and was known as a draftsman of extraordinary precision and imagination.
One of de Gheyn’s most famous works is the illustrated military manual: Wapenhandelinghe van Roers, Musquetten ende Spiessen (Exercise of Arms, 1607). Commissioned by Prince Maurice of Nassau, the book contains meticulously detailed engravings demonstrating military drills for musketeers and pikemen. These images were not only artistic achievements but also practical instructional tools and were widely influential across Europe.
Jacques de Gheyn II died in The Hague in 1629. He left behind a substantial body of prints and drawings that influenced later Dutch artists. He was a pivotal figure in early 17th-century Dutch art—an artist who combined technical brilliance with scientific curiosity and courtly patronage.