Kamis, 29 September 2011

The Temple of Muses

Mythological Figures and Fables



engraving of astrological zodiac figures emerging from conflagration at the beginning of the universe
The Chaos or the Origin of the World



human trees in back of reclining chimeric beast-humans : 17th c. engraving
Transformation of Cyguns into a Swan and Phaeton's Sisters into poplar trees



engraved battle between swordsman on flying horse and chimeric lion - book illustration
Bellerophon fights the Chimaera



engraved mythological person holds bull's head to the ground
Achelous in the shape of a Bull is vanquished by Hercules



Bernard Picart engraving of seated person playing violin (+ ornate baroque border)
Amphion builds the walls of Thebes by the Music of his Lyre



lyre-playing person rides on stylised fish in the ocean (engraving)
Arion preserved by a Dolphin



book illustration engraving by Bernard Picart of the mythological figure Atlas supporting the starry heavens on his shoulders
Atlas supports the Heavens on his shoulders



b&w figure of winged icarus from mythology plummets out of control to earth
The Fall of Icarus



18th c engraving of bearded merman in the ocean
Glaucus changed into a Sea-God



book illustration of human seated in moonlit clouds above a sleeping human on land
The Moon and Endymion



illustration of stylised ancient sailboat in trouble in big seas
The Dioscuri or Castor and Pollux the Guardians of Mariners



engraving of mythical Ulysses in a ship passes the sirens calling from the shallows
Ulysses and his companions avoid the charms of the Sirens



mythical Hercules wields club against 7-headed hydra beast
Hercules' Combat with the Hydra



man pushes rock up hill while winged monsters impedes the progress (mythological engraving)
Sisyphus's stone



In mythical hell scene, human is bound and rotated on a punishment wheel
Ixion's wheel



Bernard Picart's engraved mythological scene of hell with human misery all around
Hell



Bernard Picart (or Picard) (1673-1733) was a French book illustrator and one of the outstanding engravers from the first decades of the 18th century. His most famous work - see: Designer Religion - was an enormous compendium of the world's religions.

In 'Neueröffneter Musen-Tempel', a collection of mythological fables and stories (most notably from Ovid's 'Metamorphoses') is presented, accompanied by sixty copperplate engravings by Picart. The illustrations are superior in quality, even as they appeared in 1733 in the fading light of the Baroque tradition. The fabulous ornate border patterns lend the compositions something of a formal quality like framed paintings; indeed, Picart drew inspiration for a number of his engravings from mid-17th century works by the Rubens student, Abraham van Diepenbeeck. But the majority of the designs are by Picart himself.

Motives listed for Picart's illustration include: Alcyone, Alpheus, Andromeda, Apollo, Arethusa, Argonauts, Argus, Aristaeus, Artemis, Calais, Cassandra, Castor, Ceyx, Cycnus, Deucalion, Dioscuri, Echo, Enceladus, Endymion, Eos, Eurynome, Giants, Glaucus, Harpies, Heliades, Hera, Hermaphroditus, Hermes, House of Hypnos, Io, Iphis, Leander, Leucothoe, Lycaon, Memnon, Niobe, Niobids, Oeneus, Palladium, Pan, Perseus, Phaethon, Phineus, Polydeuces, Proteus, Pygmalion, Pyrrha, River Gods, Salmacis, Selene, Semele, Syrinx, Tantalus, The Flood, Tithonus, Trojan War, Troy, Underworld, Zetes, Zeus [source]

'The Temple of Muses' was published in France and Germany simultaneously in 1733 and includes captions in English, French, German and Dutch below each illustration. The images above are from a 1754 edition published in Amsterdam.

The Temple of Muses

Mythological Figures and Fables



engraving of astrological zodiac figures emerging from conflagration at the beginning of the universe
The Chaos or the Origin of the World



human trees in back of reclining chimeric beast-humans : 17th c. engraving
Transformation of Cyguns into a Swan and Phaeton's Sisters into poplar trees



engraved battle between swordsman on flying horse and chimeric lion - book illustration
Bellerophon fights the Chimaera



engraved mythological person holds bull's head to the ground
Achelous in the shape of a Bull is vanquished by Hercules



Bernard Picart engraving of seated person playing violin (+ ornate baroque border)
Amphion builds the walls of Thebes by the Music of his Lyre



lyre-playing person rides on stylised fish in the ocean (engraving)
Arion preserved by a Dolphin



book illustration engraving by Bernard Picart of the mythological figure Atlas supporting the starry heavens on his shoulders
Atlas supports the Heavens on his shoulders



b&w figure of winged icarus from mythology plummets out of control to earth
The Fall of Icarus



18th c engraving of bearded merman in the ocean
Glaucus changed into a Sea-God



book illustration of human seated in moonlit clouds above a sleeping human on land
The Moon and Endymion



illustration of stylised ancient sailboat in trouble in big seas
The Dioscuri or Castor and Pollux the Guardians of Mariners



engraving of mythical Ulysses in a ship passes the sirens calling from the shallows
Ulysses and his companions avoid the charms of the Sirens



mythical Hercules wields club against 7-headed hydra beast
Hercules' Combat with the Hydra



man pushes rock up hill while winged monsters impedes the progress (mythological engraving)
Sisyphus's stone



In mythical hell scene, human is bound and rotated on a punishment wheel
Ixion's wheel



Bernard Picart's engraved mythological scene of hell with human misery all around
Hell



Bernard Picart (or Picard) (1673-1733) was a French book illustrator and one of the outstanding engravers from the first decades of the 18th century. His most famous work - see: Designer Religion - was an enormous compendium of the world's religions.

In 'Neueröffneter Musen-Tempel', a collection of mythological fables and stories (most notably from Ovid's 'Metamorphoses') is presented, accompanied by sixty copperplate engravings by Picart. The illustrations are superior in quality, even as they appeared in 1733 in the fading light of the Baroque tradition. The fabulous ornate border patterns lend the compositions something of a formal quality like framed paintings; indeed, Picart drew inspiration for a number of his engravings from mid-17th century works by the Rubens student, Abraham van Diepenbeeck. But the majority of the designs are by Picart himself.

Motives listed for Picart's illustration include: Alcyone, Alpheus, Andromeda, Apollo, Arethusa, Argonauts, Argus, Aristaeus, Artemis, Calais, Cassandra, Castor, Ceyx, Cycnus, Deucalion, Dioscuri, Echo, Enceladus, Endymion, Eos, Eurynome, Giants, Glaucus, Harpies, Heliades, Hera, Hermaphroditus, Hermes, House of Hypnos, Io, Iphis, Leander, Leucothoe, Lycaon, Memnon, Niobe, Niobids, Oeneus, Palladium, Pan, Perseus, Phaethon, Phineus, Polydeuces, Proteus, Pygmalion, Pyrrha, River Gods, Salmacis, Selene, Semele, Syrinx, Tantalus, The Flood, Tithonus, Trojan War, Troy, Underworld, Zetes, Zeus [source]

'The Temple of Muses' was published in France and Germany simultaneously in 1733 and includes captions in English, French, German and Dutch below each illustration. The images above are from a 1754 edition published in Amsterdam.

Sabtu, 24 September 2011

Crustacean Atlas

hand-coloured engravings of crabs



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse e



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse a



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse j



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse g



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse b



18th c. hand-coloured engravings of crustacea



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse d



Herbst - 18th c engravings crustacea



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse h



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse k



hand-coloured engraving of a crab from the 1700s by jfw herbst


Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst (1743-1807) was a German naturalist and entomologist as well as a theologian and chaplain for the Prussian army.

Herbst was best known for helping Carl Jablonsky attempt to survey all known beetles (Order Colyoptera). The effort resulted in the massive, but still incomplete 'Naturgeschichte der in-und Ausländischen Insekten' (1785-1806) (see: i, ii)

The title of present interest - 'Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse' ([An attempt at] The Natural History of Crabs and Lobsters) - was released in instalments between about 1782 and the mid-1790s. There were three volumes of text and an atlas consisting of more than sixty hand-coloured engravings. It appears various editions were issued before 1800, some coloured, some not and some coloured later : all having an impact on the auction price today (ranging from, say, $6K to $18K).

Herbst's crab and lobster book was - as far as I can tell - the first comprehensive work on the crustaceans and definitely included descriptions and illustrations of previously unknown species. It is still regarded as a primary source in the field.
JFW Herbst titles on Amazon

Crustacean Atlas

hand-coloured engravings of crabs



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse e



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse a



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse j



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse g



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse b



18th c. hand-coloured engravings of crustacea



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse d



Herbst - 18th c engravings crustacea



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse h



Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse k



hand-coloured engraving of a crab from the 1700s by jfw herbst


Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst (1743-1807) was a German naturalist and entomologist as well as a theologian and chaplain for the Prussian army.

Herbst was best known for helping Carl Jablonsky attempt to survey all known beetles (Order Colyoptera). The effort resulted in the massive, but still incomplete 'Naturgeschichte der in-und Ausländischen Insekten' (1785-1806) (see: i, ii)

The title of present interest - 'Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse' ([An attempt at] The Natural History of Crabs and Lobsters) - was released in instalments between about 1782 and the mid-1790s. There were three volumes of text and an atlas consisting of more than sixty hand-coloured engravings. It appears various editions were issued before 1800, some coloured, some not and some coloured later : all having an impact on the auction price today (ranging from, say, $6K to $18K).

Herbst's crab and lobster book was - as far as I can tell - the first comprehensive work on the crustaceans and definitely included descriptions and illustrations of previously unknown species. It is still regarded as a primary source in the field.
JFW Herbst titles on Amazon