Plate 26: The Arch of Ferdinand: The Rear Face; two-tiered structure with lower storey articulated by six columns framing three arches and continued on upper storey with caryatid terms and statues of female personifications; dedication to Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand as protector of German liberty and defender of religion over central portal; large centerpiece canvas on tympanum depicts Prince Ferdinand and his cousin, Ferdinand IV, King of Hungary, at the Battle of Nördlingen; the gable is crowned by Aurora in the guise of a winged Victory riding in on a chariot drawn by white horses and proferring laurel wreaths and palm branches in her outstreched arms; flanking her two tree trunks laden with military trophies and with bound captives at their bases; at left and right are the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, wearing star-emblazoned helmets and each guiding a horse and bearing a standard with the monogram for Ferdinand encircled in a wreath; in pediment above the principal picture two eagles attack a serpent and to the left and right stand the sculpted personifications of Pietas, veiled and holding a chalice and patera, and Germania, supporting a shield adorned with the imperial eagle; beside them are full-length portraits of King Ferdinand of Hungary at left, with a portrait of Emperor Ferdinand II in the roundel above, and the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand at right, surmounted by a roundel with a portrait of his brother King Philip IV; flanking the upper tier are caryatid terms, winged cupids carrying standards and male figures holding torches; on the entablature of the lower storey are the coats of arms of the two Ferdinands along with their emblems: at left, the owl and shield with Gorgon head associated with Minerva, and opposite, the club, lion's skin and thunderbolt of Hercules; after Peter Paul Rubens; illustration for Gaspar Gevaerts' "Pompa Introitus" (Antwerp, 1641) 
<br>Etching
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<p>Print made by: Theodoor van Thulden
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<dl><dd>After: Peter Paul Rubens</dd>
<dd>Published by: Theodoor van Thulden</dd></dl></div>
1635-1641 (c.)
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