Optical view of the Royal Catholic Church at Dresden - Marienbrücke (Germany)
XVIIIth century optical view in original watercolors. Original copper plate engraving on laid paper with watermark heightened with watercolor at that time. Published by Georg Balthasar Probst in Augsburg circa 1760

Katholische Hofkirche

The Catholic cathedral of Dresden in Germany, was built by the architect Gaetano Chiaveri between 1739 and 1755 in baroque style.

King Augustus II the Fort, with little interest in the Catholic religion, after having converted to catholicism in 1697 to be able to become king of poland, had mass said in a modest chapel of the castle of the Dresden Residence, then from 1707 in the empty opera house near the castle. When the Lutheran population of the city, was on the point of building the Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche), the most important Protestant sacred building in Europe, King August III of Poland then saw the need to build a Catholic church. The cathedral was consecrated on June 29, 1751 by the apostolic nuncio in Poland, Archbishop Albert Archinto, and dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The crypt of the cathedral welcomes the heart of the elector of Saxony and king of Poland Auguste II.

Outside, on the tower there are four allegorical statues of the three theological virtues, that is to say Faith, Charity, Hope and Justice, which were made by the Italian sculptor Lorenzo Mattielli.

The Optical View

The Galerie Napoléon is pleased to propose to you this strong water etching printed 264 years ago (around 1760).

As for all the antique prints in our catalogue, this optical view L'Eglise Royale Catholique, avec le Pont sur la Riviere de l'Elbe, a Dresde - Ecclesia Regia Catholicorum, cum Pontem Super Fluvium Albis Dresdae - La Chiesa Cattolica Reale, con Ponte oltra il Fiume l'Alba, a Dresda - Die Könige Catholische Kirche, nebst der Bruck über den Elbe Flus, zu Dresden - datant de 1760 is dispatched worldwide within 24H in a Secured packaging, accompanied by its certificate of authenticity guaranteeing the name of the artists (draughtsman, engraver, editor), the impression process used (Strong water) and its date (1760).

In order to guarantee a perfect conservation in time, this strong water etching is dispatched, ready to be framed, under museum quality color passepartout (manufactured without acid in the pulp for a neutral pH) on a cream mountboard made from carton bois (also acid free & neutral pH), in a luxurious portfolio.

History of the Optical views

At the apogee of the mode for optical views, between 1750 and 1790, four European cities specialized in their edition: Paris (France), London (England), Augsburg (Germany) and Bassano (Italy).

Optical views are prized in very different social circles : pleasant recreation in aristocratic salons, the views are admired in beautiful and richly decorated optical boxes which are real works of art. The show was transformed into a real scientific experiment. But the optical views also entertained the people who were in a hurry when a hawker set up a box on a market and began to narrate the extraordinary events that had taken place in a more or less distant and inaccessible country.

There are three categories in the production of optical views.

• Topographic views: Cities, Monuments, Ports, Distant regions, reproduced with more or less accuracy, depending on the documents available to the engraver. It is obvious that the authors of these prints had not seen these territories. They therefore recomposed these landscapes by compiling various engravings and drawings, which explains many fantasies.
• The historical scenes : Inaugurations, Coronations, Battles, Fires or Natural disasters form a subject that the people are fond of.
• Views with a religious or moralizing theme. For educational value, these prints were mainly produced by Parisian publishers in the rue Saint-Jacques.

Our Guarantee

With more than 20 years experience and a catalogue of more than 40.000 antique prints, drawings and historical documents dating from the 14th to the 19th century, the Galerie Napoléon, parisian antique dealer's gallery, is one of the world references in the field of antique prints,etchings and antique graphic arts.

In addition to thousands of impassioned of antique prints throughout the world, the Galerie Napoléon is honoured to count among its customers : national archives, museums, historical monuments and important home designer companies. All attracted by the extraordinary diversity of its catalogue and the quality and speed of its services.

This experience allows us to guarantee to each one of our customers the authenticity of the antiques in our catalogue and the shipment of their orders within 24 hours.

Free customization

Customize for free the color of your museum quality bevel cut edge passepartout (acid free & neutral pH) among a color chart of 23 shades.
This option will be offered to you free of charge in the cart.

Secured shipment

All our antiques can be shipped worldwide. The orders are dispatched within 24H in a secured packaging.

The Galerie Napoléon offers free shipping for all orders over 50EUR for France, 70EUR for all EU destinations and 90EUR for worldwide destinations.

For orders below these amounts, the shipping costs are 8EUR for France, 12EUR for all EU destinations and 17EUR for worldwide destinations.

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