GRABADOS ARENBERG 19.10.2019

Gravures anciennes – Oude prenten
304 [German]
DIETRICH, Christian Wilhelm Ernst - Blind beggar. 1757.
Chiaroscuro woodcut, 13 x 15 cm, 21 x 27 cm (pencil notes at the bottom). Stuck
by upper corners under passe-partout.
200 / 250 €
Second state, unnumbered and the first in chiaroscuro using two woodblocks.
Ref. Linck 78.
Albrecht Altdorfer and Wolf Traut) designed this dense
and spectacular image on 195 woodblocks which took
three years to cut and print, between 1515 and 1518.
It was commissioned by the Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I (r. 1486–1519) who personally took a close
interest in its production. At over 3.5 metres tall, the
incredibly detailed arch is both elaborate and immense.
Maximilian harnessed the superlative skills of German
woodcut designers and printers to advertise his
achievements and dynastic ambition for the Austrian
Habsburg family. About 700 sets of impressions were
printed in a first edition in 1517-18, and given by
Maximilian as gifts, mostly to the cities and princes
of the Holy Roman Empire. A second edition of about
300 copies was authorised by Archduke Ferdinand
(Maximilian’s grandson and later Holy Roman
Emperor) in 1526–28, and a third edition by Archduke
Charles (Ferdinand’s son) in 1559. This impression is
most likely of the third state of 1559.
Ref. Meder 251- Bartsch 138.
Prov. Van Loock (Coll. stamp. Lugt 3752).
307 [German]
DÜRER, Albrecht - 2 woodcuts from the Apocalypse.
Nuremberg, 1498-1511.
Woodcuts, 39,2 x 27,1 cm, laid paper, monogrammed AD (very heavily damaged,
toned, edges frayed with loss of image, several tears and holes). Stuck under passepartout
200 / 250 €
305 [German]
DIETRICH, Christian Wilhelm Ernst - Triton fights: 3 prints
on 2 sheets.
3 engravings, 8,5 x 14,5 cm; 8,5 x 14 cm; 8,7 x 14,7 cm, all signed «Dietricj» and
the first two dated «1763» (with wide margins). Stuck by corners under 2 passepartout.
150 / 200 €
Three triton fights by C.W.E. Dietrich (1712-1774), the first with two marine
creatures at the left side, the second with a Naiad in the background and the
third with flying stork.
Ref. Linck 43, 44, 45 II.
306 [German]
DÜRER, Albrecht and his school - The Triumphal Arch of
Maximilian I. 1515-1518.
Woodcut, 63,4 x 16,2 cm, laid paper (browned, old repair at bottom left and
upper margin). Stuck at corners under passe-partout.
400 / 500 €
One of the woodcuts which formed the triumphal arch of Emperor Maximilian.
This section shows two baluster columns with Ionic capitals on the right side of
the central arch. Celebrated German artist Dürer and his team (Hans Springklee,
The first woodcut represents the opening of the seventh seal and the eagle
crying ‘Woe’. In Heaven God is distributing trumpets to seven angels,
underneath a crying eagle is flying towards earth, which is in chaos. Latin
letterpress text on the verso. An impression from the 1498 Latin edition of
Dürer’s most magnificent and best-known series of 15 woodcuts. « There was
a long tradition of Apocalypse illustrations in manuscripts, which continued in
printed books, but nothing like Dürer’s galvinising imagination had ever been
brought to bear on the text. In previously printed Bibles, illustrations had been
put on pages along with the words, but Dürer gave precedence to the image,
taking an entire large page of what he himself called a «superbook» for each of
his fifteen subjects.» (The Metropolitan Museum New York).
The second print depicts the Whore of Babylon. Clothed in a Venetian costume
and holding a cup aloft, she is mounted on a beast with seven heads, with
the destruction of Babylon in the background. From the 1511 impression with
German letterpress text from the Revelation of St John on the verso.
Ref. Meder 170, 177. - German Hollstein 170, 177. - Schoch 2001-04 II.118.
ARENBERG AUCTIONS • 19.10.2019 • 95