Gaspar Fróis Machado, Equestrian Training Horsemanship, 1790, Engraving, Set of 3

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Portuguese Equestrian Training Engravings — Baroque Horsemanship, 1790 This striking set of three antique copperplate engravings originates from the celebrated … Read more Portuguese Equestrian Training Engravings — Baroque Horsemanship, 1790 This striking set of three antique copperplate engravings originates from the celebrated Portuguese equestrian treatise Luz da Liberal, e Nobre Arte da Cavallaria by Manoel Carlos de Andrade, published in Lisbon in 1790. Widely regarded as the first major Portuguese work devoted to classical horsemanship, the publication documents the refined traditions of Iberian riding academies at the end of the eighteenth century and reflects the aristocratic culture surrounding cavalry training and ceremonial riding. The engravings depict a series of advanced dressage and riding exercises performed by elegantly mounted riders on highly trained horses. One scene illustrates a piaffe lesson between pillars, an important training technique used in classical riding schools to develop collection and balance. Another shows a horse performing elevated airs and collected movements under saddle in an open landscape, while the third presents a formal training exercise with attendants working the horse from the ground. Together, the compositions provide a rare visual survey of baroque equestrian instruction and the disciplined artistry associated with noble riding traditions in Portugal and Spain. Executed after designs by Joachim Carneiro da Silva and engraved by artists including Gaspar Fróis Machado and Martini, the plates combine technical riding accuracy with refined late-Baroque draftsmanship. The riders wear fashionable military and court attire of the period, while the horses display the elevated posture, collection, and muscular precision associated with classical haute école dressage. The engravings were produced at the Regia Officina Typografica in Lisbon and dedicated to Dom João, Prince of Brazil, later King João VI of Portugal. Sets from this important equestrian publication are increasingly sought after by collectors of sporting art, military history, Portuguese engravings, and classical horsemanship. Displayed together, the prints create an elegant and scholarly decorative grouping suited to libraries, gentleman’s studies, country houses, riding clubs, or sophisticated equestrian interiors. These are original 18th-century copperplate engravings printed in Lisbon in 1790, not modern reproductions. Any framed images shown are for presentation purposes only. The prints are supplied unframed. Condition: Good overall condition with age-related toning, occasional foxing, and minor marginal wear. Plate marks visible. Strong impressions with pleasing contrast and fine engraving detail throughout. Displays exceptionally well in matching dark walnut, ebonized, or museum black frames paired with wide ivory or parchment-toned mats. Particularly effective when hung as a horizontal gallery arrangement in equestrian or classical European interiors. Technique: Copperplate engravings Maker: Gaspar Fróis Machado, Martini, and others after Joachim Carneiro da Silva, Lisbon, 1790 See less