24. James Ensor
(1860-1949)

Bataille des Éperons d’Or

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Ensor, Bataille des Éperons

Bataille des Éperons d’Or

Etching, 1895, 177 x 237 mm., Delteil 95, Tavernier 96 only state. Fine, clear impression on tan wove paper with good margins ; some tiny splits at the lower sheet edge, far from the image. Unsigned (except in the plate) and almost certainly one of the 125 impressions included in the deluxe edition of Delteil’s catalog of Ensor’s prints, published in 1925. Ensor’s visual imagination is as wild as usual here, but the Battle of the Golden Spurs was an actual historical event. It took place near Courtrai in Flanders on July 11, 1302, between the horse-mounted knights of France and the Flemish foot soldiers and was an early example of an infantry (helped by the terrain) overcoming cavalry. The date is well remembered in Belgium and, in 1973, was chosen to be that of the official holiday of the Flemish community.