Antique Print-COLOSSES-RHODES-GREECE-HARBOUR-SHIPS-Probst-c.1760

This print shows the Colossus of Rhodes, detail of the statue straddling the entrance to the harbour. Ships on the water and many people in the front. Optical views were very fashionable in the 18th century, they are engravings, mainly on copper plate, made to be seen through an optical box (with inversion of text and image), which consisted of an inclined mirror and a large lens, to be able to see the pictures.

Made by Georg Balthasar Probst after own design.

Medium: engraving /optical print on hand laid paper.

Sheet size: 42.5 x 31 cm (16.73 x 12.2 inch). Image size: 40.5 x 30 cm. (15.94 x 11.81 inch).

Condition: fair, given age. Smudges and stains. Brownish. Folds. Tears restored below. Text about Colosses in French on reverse. Sold as is, waf. General age-related toning and/or occasional minor defects from handling. Please study scan carefully.

COLOSSES-RHODES-GREECE-HARBOUR-SHIPS | RB-T.29-LARGE

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

This attractive print was published ca 1760.

Biography engraver: Georg Balthasar Probst (1732 – 1801) was a German artist, engraver and publisher in Augsburg, a major European publishing center in the 17th and 18th centuries. He produced architectural views of places around the world, including vues d’optique, which were published in various places during the last half of the 18th century, including Paris, Augsburg and London.