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Description

First State in Original Hand-Color.

Fantastic etched view of Lucerne, Switzerland, by Wenceslaus Hollar, one of the best practitioners of the art in the 17th century.

As is typical of his work, here Hollar elevates the depiction of Lucerne above what we expect from a bird's eye view; it is not just the detail of his image, but the realism that transports the viewer into the streets of the Medieval town.

Penington's first of three states (861), with the left horn unfinished and without the edition of boats and clouds. Penington notes that state ii appeared in Jansson's Illustriorum regni Galliae civitatum tabulae, Amsterdam, 1650, and that state iii appeared in De Wit's Theatrum..., Amsterdam, circa 1695.

Next to the 95-point legend, there is an image of Leodegar of Poitiers having his eye gouged out -- the Church of St. Leodegar in Lucerne had been completed in 1633-39, shortly before the view was drawn.

The view is signed by Hollar just above the number "73." in the legend at the lower left.

Condition Description
Old hand-color.
Reference
Penington, A descriptive catalogue of the etched works of Wenceslaus Hollar, 1607-1677, number 861, state i.