Town Hall, Cologne on the Rhine after W.L. Leitch, Steel Engraving, circa 1840
€ 160
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1840
Mapmaker / artist
W.L. Leitch (artist), T. Turnbull (engraver)
Publisher
Not named on the sheet
Technique
Steel engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-13194-147
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Age toning, darker at the edges; handling soiling along the edges and scattered foxing in the margins. Printed image clean.
About this sheet
The Town Hall of Cologne is shown with its Renaissance loggia filling the right of the picture, two stories of arcades with paired columns, carved panels and a richly ornamented upper story. Behind it rises the tall Gothic tower of the town hall, tier upon tier of tracery capped by a steep pointed roof and a slender spire.
The square in front is busy with figures. A woman in a tall headdress walks toward the viewer carrying a basket, a man sits on the steps of the loggia, and at lower left townspeople gather around market wares and stone fragments on the ground. An archway and old stepped gables close the view at left.
The lettering reads Town-Hall, Cologne, on the Rhine, and credits the drawing to William Leighton Leitch, the Scottish landscape painter, and the engraving to T. Turnbull. No publisher's line appears on this impression. The loggia, added to the medieval town hall in the sixteenth century, is one of the best known Renaissance works in Germany. Leitch places the viewer close beneath its arches, so the ornament of the columns and friezes can be read in detail.
It is a steel engraving, finely cut, with the stone of the loggia rendered in close, silvery line and the sky in soft graduated tones.
An elegant architectural view for a study or a hallway, it pairs well with other Rhine views in matching frames, or hangs equally well on its own above a desk or console table.
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.
