Garden of Malabar, Vol. 1 (1683) - Page 3

A full-page copperplate engraving features a three-quarter length portrait of Henricus Adrianus van Rheede. He is depicted in a full suit of plate armor, wearing an elaborate, voluminous allonge wig and a fine lace cravat. His right hand holds a commander's baton, resting on a draped table, while his left hand is open in a gesture towards the viewer. In the background, a low horizon shows a landscape with a stately manor house under a cloudy sky. Below the portrait is a large decorative cartouche containing a central Latin inscription topped by a coat of arms with a coronet and two griffin supporters. Flanking this central block are two columns of ancestral heraldry, each containing eight small shields with names inscribed above them.


REEDE	DIEST	UTENHOVE	RENESSE
Shield with three wavy fesses	Shield with two horizontal bars	Shield with three horizontal bars	Shield with a lion rampant
BOOR	BRANDENBURG	DE KALE	BORSSELEN
Shield with three crescent moons	Shield with three lions rampant	Shield with three bird-like figures	Shield with a horizontal fess
NIENRODE	VEELEN	KETEL	SCHIMMELPENN.
Quartered shield	Shield with three stylized leaves/feathers	Shield with three horizontal bars	Shield with crossed keys
RENESSE	SOLMS	MULART	GAESBEECK
Shield with a lion rampant	Shield with a lion rampant	Shield with a chevron	Shield with three crosses and a smaller shield in center

The Most Illustrious and Noble Lord

HENRICUS ADRIANUS VAN RHEEDE,

Lord of Draakestein, Toparch of Mierlo, etc., formerly Governor

of the Kingdom of Malabar, and Extraordinary Councilor of the

Supreme Belgian Council, which is that of the Indies of Batavia, now

enrolled in the Equestrian ranks of the Illustrious and Most

Powerful Estates of the Diocese of Utrecht, and at this time

Envoy for inspecting and settling the affairs of the Dutch Company

in India, both outside and within the Ganges.