Procession of Mechelen with Opsinjoorke.

Engraving, 20,5 x 25,2 cm, laid paper (few spots, flattened vertical fold at centre, ms. note at bottom right).

Good impression with wide margins.

In 1775 the city of Mechelen organized an elaborate procession to celebrate the millennial of the death of its patron St Rumoldus. At right a wheel of fortune. At left Opsinjoorke, the sterotypical drunk, being tossed in the air with a blanket as a punishment. To this day, a doll of Opsinjoorke is tossed in the air during processions in Mechelen. Illustration from "Prael-treyn [...] den heyligen Rumoldus" published by Vander Elst in 1775.
Joined: 2 18th-c. prints (several damages): 1. Condamnation of the Counts of Egmont and of Hoorn. At top right: "DISCITE IUSTITIAM MONITI / ET NON / TEMNERE DIVOS" (from Virgil's "Aeneid", VII, v. 620). - 2. Overview of a church treasure. From "Beschryving der stadt Delft", Delft, Reinier Boitet, 1729. (3 pcs)