TEMPLAR KNIGHT IN BATTLE ATTIRE – original 18th-century engraving

Original etching by Jacques-Charles Bar, hand-enhanced with watercolor

France, circa 1780–1790
Dimensions: 41 cm × 26 cm
Size : 16.2" × 10.2"
Condition: excellent – laid paper, intact margins, clearly visible plate mark

Magnificent and rare depiction of a Templar knight in full battle attire, wearing complete armor and the white surcoat bearing the red cross.
The artist, Jacques-Charles Bar, renders with remarkable precision the dual spiritual and martial nature of the Order of the Temple, emblem of Christian chivalry and sacred warfare.

This plate, etched with exceptional fineness, belongs to the great cycle that Bar devoted to the religious and military orders of Europe at the end of the 18th century. Each impression, printed on a hand press, is today of great rarity, and the examples hand-enhanced with watercolor are particularly sought after.

It should be emphasized that Templar representations from the 18th century are extremely rare:
after the dissolution of the Order in the 14th century, its iconography fell into obscurity for more than four centuries. It was only at the end of the Ancien Régime, in the context of a renewed interest in the Middle Ages, that a few enlightened artists — among them Jacques-Charles Bar — undertook to restore face and nobility to the Knights of the Temple. Authentic plates from this period therefore constitute unique iconographic testimonies, well before Romanticism and the rediscovery of the Templar myth in the 19th century.

The original period colors, of remarkable freshness, highlight the modeling of the armor and the symbolic purity of the white mantle.
The plate mark visible around the entire composition attests to an original impression, executed on antique laid paper, with the clarity and depth characteristic of 18th-century hand presses.

Provenance: private European collection.

A rare and emblematic piece, ideal for a religious history cabinet, a Templar collection, or a symbolically inspired interior.