View of Passau on the Danube, Antique Engraving, circa 1880
€ 140
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1880
Mapmaker / artist
Unsigned wood engraving
Publisher
Not named on the sheet
Technique
Wood engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-13194-93
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
Light wear to the bottom left corner; minor nicks to the bottom edge. Age toning, darker at the edges; handling soiling along the edges and scattered foxing in the margins. Printed image clean.
About this sheet
A wide panorama of Passau from the heights, with the old town filling a narrow tongue of land between two broad rivers. The eye follows the long point of the peninsula, crowded with houses, a large many-windowed building and the domed cathedral, out toward the meeting of the waters, with bridges and the far bank beyond.
At right a fortress crowns the rocky hillside above the river, its walls running down to a round tower at the water's edge, and at left a twin-towered church stands on a wooded hill across the water. Trees in the foreground and a thin plume of smoke frame the view under a sky of long, banded clouds.
Passau in Lower Bavaria is known as the City of Three Rivers, where the Inn and the Ilz flow into the Danube, and its cathedral of St. Stephen and the fortress of Veste Oberhaus are its great landmarks. The print is captioned "VIEW OF PASSAU." in letterpress beneath the image.
This is a wood engraving, printed with its caption as a book or periodical illustration. The water is rendered in fine horizontal lines that give it a still, reflective surface, while the buildings and rocks are cut with crisp, firm strokes.
A broad landscape format suits it to a space above a sofa or a desk, perhaps paired with other river views in matching frames.
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.
