Challenge- earliest depiction of Louis XIV dragoon.

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Clibinarium
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Challenge- earliest depiction of Louis XIV dragoon.

Post by Clibinarium » Wed Aug 02, 2017 10:29 pm

Hi,

Been looking into the early period of Louis XIV's armies and was struck by the paucity of images of dragoons. We all know the famous image -

Image

I can't seem to find anything earlier than that (1686). I know that many were created after the outbreak of the Dutch war, around 1675/76 so one might not expect many depictions of the first regiments.

I am aware of the Preben Kannick image of an officer in 1675, but it does not indicate what it was based on
Image

So can anyone beat 1686?

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Friedrich August I.
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Re: Challenge- earliest depiction of Louis XIV dragoon.

Post by Friedrich August I. » Thu Aug 03, 2017 3:34 am

The Vinkhuijzen Collection contains some pictores of Dragoons for 1676


https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/ite ... 0a18064a99

here is the link to collection

https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/col ... navigation
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Re: Challenge- earliest depiction of Louis XIV dragoon.

Post by Old John » Thu Aug 03, 2017 8:12 am

Try "Historie & Collections No 24 French Dragoons 1669 -1749, good list of sources
cheers Old John
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Re: Challenge- earliest depiction of Louis XIV dragoon.

Post by Clibinarium » Sun Aug 20, 2017 9:59 am

Hmmm although the Vinkhuijzen Collection image (made in 1910 apparently) shows the date of 1676, its very clear that it uses the 1686 cartoon as its source, from the arrangement of the the equipment and the dead give away of the little pompom on the top of the bonnet (which I have always thought a bit odd, but it is there).
I tend to treat the Vinkhuijzen stuff with caution; most of its stuff is victorian or later, and I tend to trust only contemporary images (its still a great resource).

I have the H&C Dragoon book, but its very sketchy on pre 1686 (none of its illustrations predate that). Perhaps that's a sort of answer to my question; if material existed it would be in that book.
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