Merktekens en ornamenten op de schilden van de koningen - Samuel Bernard

A detailed seventeenth-century French engraving documenting the heraldic shields and official insignia of the French monarchy and its high-ranking officers.

This engraving by Samuel Bernard, a French artist active during the seventeenth century, provides a systematic documentation of heraldic insignia and external ornaments associated with the French monarchy and its high-ranking officials. The composition is structured as a reference plate, featuring a decorative cartouche at the top that frames the title, flanked by allegorical figures. Below this header, the work presents a series of numbered shields, each representing specific offices within the royal household and the military hierarchy of the period.

Bernard employs a precise, clean line quality characteristic of professional printmaking in the Baroque era. The shields are depicted with varying degrees of ornamentation, ranging from simple forms to elaborate arrangements featuring batons, swords, and ecclesiastical symbols. The text accompanying the illustrations serves to identify the specific dignitary or office associated with each shield, providing a clear link between the visual symbol and its administrative function. The layout is balanced and orderly, reflecting the period's interest in codifying social and political hierarchies through visual language.

As a historical document, this print offers insight into the formalisation of heraldry under the Ancien Régime. The inclusion of specific details, such as the placement of batons behind the shields or the use of specific crowns, demonstrates the rigorous standards applied to the representation of rank. The work is not merely decorative but functions as a technical guide for the identification of official status. The print retains a sense of clarity, with the typography and the etched figures working in tandem to convey information. This piece is a useful example of how print culture was utilised to disseminate knowledge regarding the complex structures of the French court, making it a subject of interest for those studying the history of heraldry, administrative history, or the graphic arts of the seventeenth century.