1622 Frans Hogenberg, armoured ship ‘Fin de la guerre’, fine copper engraving, military history

Frans Hogenberg (1535-1590), or workshop

Copper engraving with later hand colour.

‘Fin de la guerre’

Published in: W. Baudartius. Polemographia Auraico-Belgica, (...). Amsterdam, Michiel Colijn, 1621-1622.

Leaf dimensions: 19.5 x 25.6 cm

(French for "End of War"; also called by its Spanish or Latin name, Fin de la Guerra or Finis Belli) was an Antwerpian rebel ship employed during the siege of Antwerp (1585) against the imperial Spanish forces.

The vessel resembled a huge floating fighting platform, featuring a castle in its center manned by a large number of guns and a thousand musketeers. According to some sources, the ship was protected by thick iron plates. The defenders put great faith into the construction to relieve the siege, thus its name. When put into action, however, the vessel proved too heavy for the shallow waterways and soon ran aground, prompting some Spanish to call it mockingly Los gastos perdidos (The lost expenditure).

After one final, unsuccessful sortie, Antwerp was ultimately forced to surrender in August 1585.

Very light age toning to leaf.