An Album of Thirteen Portraits of Members of the Barth von und zu Harmating und Eurasburg Family Bound in leather with silver mounts, closures; paint and goldleaf on vellum

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A BEAUTIFULLY BOUND 17TH CENTURY ALBUM OF A NOBLE GERMAN FAMILY Book size: 4 1/2" x 3 1/2" Painting size: 2 1/2" x 2 1/4" circa 17th century This fascinating book from 17th-century Germany depicts several generations of the Barth von und zu Eurasburg family, prominent German nobility in Bavaria. As indicated in their surname, this noble family lived in a castle in Eurasburg, a municipality in Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria) that sits about 40 kilometers south of the Bavarian state capital, Munich. On thirteen of the books pages, small paintings on vellum modeled after large-scale portraits are affixed, capturing the images of relatives. Each painting has been executed with utmost skill and detail, from the tiny hairs on a fur wrap to the meticulously applied goldleaf of a brocade jacket. All of the portraits are similarly formal in appearance. Clues to the vocation of each person are apparent, such as the priests' collar and rosary of one man, and the sumptuous garb of a wealthy burgher of another. In each painting, the family's coat of arms hovers just above the left or right shoulder of the subject, contrasting with the identical cream colored background. Around the time this family album of sorts was created in 1623, the Bavarian duke replaced his relative, the Count Palatine of the Rhine in the early days of the Thirty Years' War and acquired the powerful prince-electoral dignity in the Holy Roman Empire, determining its Emperor thence forward, as well as special legal status under the empire's laws. Also the Upper Palatinate was reunited with Bavaria. The ambitions of the Bavarian prince electors led to several wars with Austria during the early-18th century. N° de ref. del artículo 001576

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