?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
(PRAGUE.) Merian, Matthaus; after Skreta, Karel. Besturmbung der Prager Statte /Wahrer Abriss der beyden Koniglichen Haubt, Alt Und Newstatt Prag... Together, two folding engraved battle scenes depicting the siege of Prague in 1648. Approximately 12 1/2x24 inches sheet size, minor fold repairs in margins. Frankfurt, 1663
2 finely engraved views after paintings by important Czech artist Karel Skreta, illustrating the intense military bombardment of Prague by the Swedish army, a siege that represented the final major battle of Central Europe's Thirty Years' War. Chaos and devastation consume the battlefields with reports of rifles and canons firing at every angle while the city's walls of defense begin to give way. Under command of Field Marshall Rudolf Colloredo, the Bohemian forces were ultimately able to keep a stronghold on the Old City of Prague, but not without suffering severe devastation and looting. Colloredo's portrait appears in the latter engraving along with that of Duke Innocent of Guadagnoli, who's participation also helped greatly in the defense of the city.
