Leo Belgicus - Famiano Strada, 1684. (Antique Map In Color)
This map turns the Low Countries into a walking lion. The coastline of the Netherlands forms the lion’s back, the tail curls out over the sea, and the paws rest across what is now Belgium, Luxembourg and part of northern France. It is printed on warm parchment style paper, so it feels like a small, strong piece of 17th century history and works well in a study or library next to books, dark wood and brass.
 
To learn more about the history of these pieces and how we craft them in our family workshop, feel free to read our full guide to antique map prints.
 
About this map print
This print is based on Famiano Strada’s Leo Belgicus, a map that shows the 17 provinces of the Low Countries in the shape of a lion. Strada was a Jesuit historian whose book De Bello Belgico told the story of the Dutch Revolt, and different versions of this lion map were engraved for the title pages of his Latin editions in the mid and late seventeenth century.
 
The lion faces to the right. Its head is in the north, its chest and front paws rest on the central provinces, and its hind legs reach down into the southern territories. The Dutch coastline draws the line of the back, and the River Rhine runs roughly along the throat. In the North Sea you can see sailing ships and sometimes a sea creature near the lion’s tail, a very typical touch for maps of this period.
 
Leo Belgicus was more than a clever shape. It helped people see the 17 provinces as one unit and used the lion, a symbol already found in many local coats of arms, as a simple picture of shared identity. This kind of symbolic map sits in the same tradition as Europa Regina, where Europe is drawn as a queen, and later figurative maps that turn whole regions into a single memorable figure.
 
If you are curious about the history behind this piece, we put together a short background on this map for you to read.
 
Craft & finish
Every replica we make is individually hand-processed in our family workshop. We finish the paper with a traditional beeswax seal to give it a warm, heavy texture. Our team also adds subtle gold paint details by hand to help the artwork truly shine. To complete the look, we hand-burn the edges to give each piece the feel of a true historical artifact.
 
While our smaller sizes are perfect for gallery walls, our 43x61 cm Large replica is a museum-scale centerpiece. Because of the size, the hand-processing and beeswax application take much longer. This extra time and care ensures that every centimeter of the historic illustration is preserved with a rich, authentic glow.
 
You can find more pieces like this in our Antique Maps collection.