During their long revolt against Spain, the Dutch drew their homeland as a lion. The Leo Belgicus fits the Seventeen Provinces of the Low Countries into the body of a great rampant beast — every town and river accurately placed inside it — facing the sea, tensed to spring. It was defiance rendered as geography: a small, flooded, embattled country picturing itself as a heraldic lion at bay. The most beloved of all the map-as-creature conceits, and a proud emblem of a nation being born.

Maker: Michael Aitzinger; Claes Janszoon Visscher
Date: 1583
Medium of the original: Plate
Original held by: Published Low Countries
Credit: Published Low Countries
Rights: Public domain, verified
Catalogue number: PA-00331

As chosen: 16 x 12 in, art print, classic frame
Picture	16 x 12 in
Outside size	17.6 x 13.6 in
Depth	0.9 in (22 mm)
Weight	[[REAL PROOF NEEDED: shipped weight per size and frame]]
Hanging	[[REAL PROOF NEEDED: hanging hardware Prodigi fits to this frame]]
Material	Enhanced matte art paper, 200 gsm; acrylic glazing
Made in	Charlotte, North Carolina, by Prodigi

Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.

How the print check works

Sizes offered
Size	dpi	Grade	How it fits
10 x 8 in	299	Excellent	Trimmed 6.8%
14 x 11 in	217	Excellent	Trimmed 5.1%
16 x 12 in	199	Good	Trimmed 0.6%

Sizes withheld
Size	Why
12 x 8 in	Wrong shape: a 11% crop
18 x 12 in	Wrong shape: a 11% crop
20 x 16 in	149 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
24 x 16 in	Wrong shape: a 11% crop
24 x 18 in	133 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
30 x 20 in	Wrong shape: a 11% crop
30 x 24 in	99 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
36 x 24 in	Wrong shape: a 11% crop
40 x 30 in	79 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
48 x 36 in	66 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
60 x 40 in	Wrong shape: a 11% crop