Flowers of Fealty: Commemoration of the Christening of Elisabeth of Hesse (1598)

Summary

When Princess Elisabeth von Hessen-Kassel (1596–1625) was christened in 1596, the festivities lasted four days. There were fireworks displays, knightly tournaments (some of the last ever held in Europe), and much pageantry. Two years later, the engineer-engraver Wilhelm Dilich (1571–1650) commemorated the event with an ornately decorated work titled Historische Beschreibung der Kindtauf des Fräuleins Elisabeth zu Hessen (Description of the Christening of Lady Elisabeth of Hesse). The images capture the four-day celebration and record the celebrants’ mythological, allegorical, and historical costumes: Hannibal, Impudence, Alexander the Great, Jason, Perseus, Fortune, and Julius Caesar all make appearances.