Franco-Spanish War (1635-59)
Contemporary maps and prints of the major battles and sieges from 1635 to 1658
View of Tarragona, 1641 (Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain) 41°07ʹ00ʺN 01°15ʹ00ʺE
c. 1660Etching and engraving; printed on paper; laid down on paper then mounted on paper (Mount Type B) | 15.6 x 50.3 cm (image and sheet) | RCIN 723008
A view of Tarragona, taken from the right bank of the River Francoli looking eastwards sometime between 29 April and August 1641, showing the town's batteries firing on the French naval blockade. Franco-Spanish War (1635-1659).
The French fleet, shown in this view and commanded by Henri d'Escoubleau de Sourdis (1593-18 June 1645), had arrived on 29 April in response to the siege, begun earlier that month by a Franco-Catalan army commanded by Philippe, comte de La Mothe-Houdancourt (1605-24 March 1657). The French army was supporting the Catalan Revolt (1640-1659). There is no depiction of the land siegeworks in this view. The French land and maritime sieges were broken by the Spanish at the naval Battle of Tarragona, 20-25 August 1641.
This print was published, sometime between 1676 and 1694, in Sebastien de Beaulieu's Les Conquêtes de Louis le Grand (see RCINs 723027.1.di/j and RCINs 723027.2.ac/d).
Adam Perelle (1640-95) (engraver) [bottom, right of centre:] AD Perelle Sculp.
Subject(s)
Navy-FranceWatermark: Print: none visible. Backing paper: none visible. Mount: cropped.
Condition: one fold line; pressure marks
15.6 x 50.3 cm (image and sheet)
cropped (platemark)
16.8 x 52.0 cm (mount)
Printed title:
TARAGONE / En Catalogne. [top centre, in a banner]
Additional text:
[bottom, below print, a key, A-I, K, to principal buildings in the town, together with a note on the latitude and longitude of the place.]
Annotations:
George III heading: Tarragona taken by the Marquis de los Velez in 1641.
Other annotations: none.
George III catalogue entry:
Tarragona Vue de la Ville de Taragone en Catalogne (prise par le Marquis de los Velez en 1641) par Perelle.
Subject(s)
Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain) 41°07ʹ00ʺN 01°15ʹ00ʺE
Bibliographic reference(s)
M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. no. 3094
Page revisions
25 May 2024
Current version
