In-folio, 8 p. in Spanish and 8 p. in French with engraved vignettes with te arms of th Archduke by C. Waumans, an engraved allegorical portrait of the Archduke by Troyen, engraved portrait of Teniers by L. Vorsterman after Peter Thys bound at the end, 224 (on 241) engraved plates of which 7 double-page including a view of Leopold's picture gallery. Some light soling and occasional spotting, minor reinforces to verso of a few leaves. some other minor tears, one plate 2 x. 18c red morocco (rebacked)
The first illustrated printed catalogue of a major collection of paintings. In 1650 Teniers was appointed Court Painter to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, the cousin of Philip IV of Spain and Governor of the Southern Netherlands, who formed a remarkable collection of some 1,300 paintings. Many of these were acquired from the celebrated collection of James, first Duke of Hamilton, following his execution for treason in 1649; so assiduous was Hamilton in the formation of his collection, that, 'An inventory of under a half of his collection in 1649 listed, inter alia, thirty-six paintings by Titian, twenty-four by Palma Giovane, eighteen by Palma Vecchio, twelve by Veronese, nine by Tintoretto, and others by Raphael, Correggio, Giorgione, and Leonardo' (ODNB). Teniers' duties extended to acting as the curator of Leopold Wilhelm's collection, and in this capacity he planned El Teatro de pinturas, painting copies of each of the 242 paintings chosen to be included in the work, which were used by the team of engravers responsible for the plates. The majority of the paintings engraved were acquired from the Hamilton collection, and they include oils by Raphael, Giorgione, Veronese, Carracci, Titian, Michelangelo, Correggio, and Mantegna, and each has the dimensions given beneath the image. Only 3 other copies are recorded as having sold at action on RBH (Christie's 2007 for 18000 pounds; Il Ponte 2020 for 6875 euro and Kieffer 2020 for 11520 euro). Ex-libris Biblioteca de Fransisco Domecq Vitor, Cadiz, 1852
