Movable print House of Orange 1799 | Prince Willem George Frederik of Orange-Nassau: Zu Frühe war sein Tod! [Allegorical memorial to Prince Willem George Frederik of Orange-Nassau]. [Netherlands, 1799]. With 2 folding flaps.
Too early was his death! A rare interactive Orangist memorial print of 1799 for the 24-year-old Prince Willem George Frederik of Orange-Nassau, with two ingenious movable flaps revealing his identity and his death as commander of the Imperial army in Padua.
Etching and engraving, with two movable paper flaps incorporated into the monument. Approximately 15 × 15 cm image, printed on a considerably larger sheet, 18,5 x 23 cm. An allegorical funerary monument set in a garden, with a classical urn, skull, reversed torches and military attributes. The central monument bears the German inscription “Zu Frühe war sein Tod!” (“Too early was his death!”). With calligraphed in pen and gold ink on paper layer under flaps: “W:m Geor:e Fred:k Prins van Orange en Nassae.&c.&c.&c. Aetat.XXIV.” and “Overleden, als Chef der keizerlyke Armée. In Italien. Binnen Padua. den 6 January 1799.”.
Curious interactive memorial print commemorating Prince Willem George Frederik of Orange-Nassau (1774–1799), youngest son of Stadtholder William V. Two ingeniously incorporated paper flaps can be lifted to reveal the identity and fate of the deceased. The upper flap identifies the prince and gives his age as twenty-four; beneath the lower flap appears the announcement that he died as commander of the Imperial army at Padua on 6 January 1799.
Prince Frederik pursued a military career in Dutch and subsequently Austrian service during the French Revolutionary Wars. Shortly before his death he had been appointed to command the Austrian forces in Italy. His unexpected death at only twenty-four caused considerable mourning both within the Austrian army and among Orangists in the Netherlands.
[NL] In gesloten toestand zien we een allegorisch grafmonument met urn, doodshoofd, omgekeerde fakkels en de tekst “Zu Frühe war sein Tod!”. De twee flapjes onthullen achtereenvolgens: “Wm. GEOR. FRED. / PRINS van Orange / en Nassau &c. &c. &c. / ÆTAT. XXIV.” en “overleden, als Chef / der Keizerlyke Armee. / In Italien. / Binnen PADUA. / den 6 January / 1799.”
Willem George Frederik is geboren in Den Haag op 15 februari 1774, zoon van Willem V en Wilhelmina van Pruisen, en op slechts 24-jarige leeftijd overleden in Padua op 6 januari 1799. Hij diende in Oostenrijkse dienst en was kort voor zijn dood tot bevelhebber van het Oostenrijkse leger in Italië benoemd.
SKU: 110873
€ 968,00(€ 800,00
![[Antique history print, 1623] 'Conspirateurs, jeghens den heere Prince van Orangien'; conspirators against Prince Maurice, 1 p.](https://arinevandersteur.nl/wp-content/uploads/60358_1_1-356x319.jpg)
![[Antique history print, 1623] 'Conspirateurs, jeghens den heere Prince van Orangien'; conspirators against Prince Maurice, 1 p.](https://arinevandersteur.nl/wp-content/uploads/c3504_1-scaled-1-356x356.jpg)
