The Great Carlo, royal ship of England

The artwork

At the top of the mainmast, in the center, flies the banner of the King of England, and beside the English lions are the lilies of France. You receive it printed on handmade Amalfi paper, with a handmade frame.

In 1340, in Ghent, Edward III proclaimed himself King of France and quartered the French lilies with the lions of England in his coat of arms. The English kings retained the title and lilies even after losing Calais, their last possession on the continent, in 1558; it is said that Henry VIII called it a "good-for-nothing" title. It was only George III who dropped them in 1801, more than four and a half centuries later. The harp of Ireland, on the same banner, had entered the royal coat of arms in 1603, when James VI of Scotland also inherited the crowns of England and Ireland.

It is one of the ship plates from the Atlante Veneto by Vincenzo Coronelli, and the cartouche at the top left presents it as follows: "Royal ship of England named the Great Charles". Around the ship, Coronelli has mounted a small baroque theater: a griffin with open wings, a coat of arms held up by a muzzled bear, frames full of fish and crabs, and on the left a castle on a rock. In the cartouche on the right it reads that the plate is "described in his Atlante Veneto by P. Cosmografo Coronelli, and dedicated"; however, the space for the name of the dedicatee remained empty. The copy, dated 1693, is preserved in the David Rumsey Map Collection.

For those who build sailing ship models or have a passion for English history, it is a picture for a study or a boy's bedroom, with the rigging to follow one by one. And at the top of the mainmast, the King of England continues to call himself King of France.

Unique quality material

Print on handmade Amalfi paper
Sheet size: 29 x 42 cm
With frame: 31 x 44 cm
Material: artwork printed on the finest paper with handmade Amalfi deckle edges
Frame: dark brown with gold fillet, handmade, with glass