The Joyous Entry of the Duke of Anjou

Unknown artist

Riding a grey and sheltered by a baldachin, Francis, duke of Anjou, son of the French king Henry II, entered Antwerp on 19 February 1582. The triumphal arch was erected specially for this occasion. The Dutch rebels had invited Anjou to be their ruler instead of King Philip II of Spain, whom they no longer recognized as their sovereign. The pomp and circumstance notwithstanding, this intention came to naught. Antwerp fell into Spanish hands in 1585, and the Northern Netherlands became a republic in 1588.