Antique Print of Mosques in Constantinople by Probst (c.1780)

Description: Antique print titled 'Prospectus, quem Solimanni et Mahometi, Sultanorum, Moschaea (..)'. Optical print of the mosques of Suleiman I and Mehmed II in Constantinople. This is an optical print, also called 'vue optique' or 'vue d'optique', which were made to be viewed through a Zograscope, or other devices of convex lens and mirrors, all of which produced an optical illusion of depth.

Artists and Engravers: 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.