Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, Original Antique Military Engraving, circa 1880

About this sheet

An original antique engraved portrait of Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, Bavarian general, circa 1880.

Luitpold of Bavaria (1821 to 1912) served as a general in the Bavarian army and from 1886 as Prince Regent of Bavaria for his nephews Ludwig the Second and Otto, a regency long remembered as a golden age of Munich.

Engraving was the principal medium of the printed portrait for three centuries. The image is cut into a metal plate, inked and printed under heavy pressure, and the engraver builds up the form of a face through the spacing and swelling of the lines, which is why a well engraved portrait rewards close looking.

This sheet comes from a gathering of portraits from across Europe and across two and a half centuries, in engraving, etching and lithography. Portrait prints have been collected in their own right since the eighteenth century, when James Granger's Biographical History of England of 1769 set off a fashion for illustrating books with portraits of the people named in them, and they are still collected today for the sitter, for the maker and for the face itself.

A single portrait frames well in a narrow moulding with a generous mat, and a group of them hung together, whether by period, by profession or simply by the strength of the faces, makes one of the most satisfying walls there is for a study, a library, a landing or a dining room.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with toning, a slightly ragged left edge with small chips and a few faint marks in the margins; the engraved image itself is clean.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.