Engraving - Fencing Guard And Riposte

Category Engraving, print Author Diderot and d'Alembert Encyclopedia Period 18th century Dimensions at sight Height: 15.5 cm Length: 35.5 cm Dimensions Height: 31.5 cm Length: 51 cm Italian format Print material Silver baguette frame Denis DIDEROT and Jean Le Rond d'ALEMBERT published in 1786, at Panckoucke in Paris in 1786, an Encyclopé die méthodique of 445 pages in 4°, subtitled Arts Académiques, équitation, escrime, danse et art de nager. The illustrations are in a separate collection. Plate number 10 in the fencing section reproduces figs 41 and 42 devoted to guards and ripostes. The craze that fencing encountered this summer comes from a long history. A bas-relief carved in the second millennium BC, from the temple of Medinet-About, in Upper Egypt, depicts two fighters wearing masks, who confront each other with a kind of sword. Four centuries later, in Olympia in Greece, the first games took place, in which fencers notably confronted each other. The Romans also practiced fencing, with two hands: the sword in one hand, in the other a parade shield. There was no fencing combat in the Middle Ages, which favored the mace, the axe, the halberd or the two-handed sword in combat. Point fencing reappeared in the 16th century, and the sword changed. It was now held in one hand, and the Italian and Spanish methods spread to France. French fencing was established in the 17th century, with a short foil ending in a fly: it was a point fencing with rapid and complicated movements. The 17th century French, thanks to a few quality fencing masters, codified the actions, defined the terms and established the teaching methods. The 19th century was the golden age of French fencing. Fencing masters perfected the actions, refined the rules. The beautiful and fine foil shone in the civil as well as military fencing halls that flourished. Around 1890, sport fencing was born with its trio of weapons, épée, sabre and foil, and in 1896, the foil and sabre appeared at the Athens Olympic Games. The épée would join the duo at the Paris Olympics in 1900. Women entered the track with the foil at the Paris Olympics. The Atlanta Olympics in 1996 saw the entry of female épée fencers, then those in Athens in 2004, that of sabre fencers. © Copyright texts and photos: Les Trésors de Gamaliel