1721 Copper Engraving Portrait Lothar Von Metternich Archbishop Trier EUM2

This is an original 1721 black and white copper engraving of "Lotharius Churfürst zu Trier." This is a portrait of Lothar Johann Reinhard von Metternich, Archbishop-Elector of Trier from 1599 to 1623. He was the son of Johann von Metternich, Lord of Vettelhoven and bailiff of Saffenberg, and his wife Katharina von der Leyen zu Adendorf. The Electorate of Trier was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It consisted of the temporal possessions of the larger Archbishopric of Trier, and was ruled by the Archbishop through his function as Prince-Elector of the Empire. As holder of an imperial office, the Archbishop was traditionally an Imperial Elector of the German king. During Napoleonic rule, the electorate was secularized in 1803. The portrait is surrounded by a wonderful decorative motif featuring the Oldest Electoral Hat, signifying the subject as a Prince-Elector, or simply Elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire. These individual