Karl Gottlieb Bretschneider, Generalsuperintendent, Lithograph, circa 1840
€ 75
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1840
Mapmaker / artist
Unidentified lithographer (monogram, 'lith.'); printed by E. Pönicke und Sohn, Leipzig
Publisher
Verlag von Gustav Schaarschmidt in Leipzig
Technique
Lithograph
Coloring
Uncolored
Sheet size
31 × 23 cm (12.2 × 9.1 in)
Condition
Fair
Reference
BG-14343-48
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
Fair to good condition for its age. Heavy foxing throughout the sheet, across the margins and into the background around the portrait; a small dark spot in the lower left margin. Please review the images for further condition details.
About this sheet
An original lithographed portrait of the theologian Karl Gottlieb Bretschneider, signed below in facsimile "K. G. Bretschneider" and lettered in script "Oberconsistorialrath und Generalsuperintendent." The imprint reads "Verlag von Gustav Schaarschmidt in Leipzig," the printer's line at lower left names E. Pönicke und Sohn in Leipzig, and a monogram followed by "lith." is drawn on the stone at lower right.
Bretschneider is shown half length, turned slightly to the right, with dark curling hair, a lively, slightly smiling face and a high white collar and stock above a double breasted coat. The portrait is drawn in crayon on the stone and fades softly into the paper around the figure, in the vignette manner of German portrait lithographs of the period.
Karl Gottlieb Bretschneider (1776 to 1848) was a Protestant theologian and scholar who served from 1816 as general superintendent at Gotha, the senior churchman of the duchy, a post matched by the lettering on this sheet. He wrote widely on the New Testament and on doctrine, and in 1834 founded the Corpus Reformatorum, the great edition of the writings of Melanchthon and the other Reformers.
Leipzig was the center of the German book and print trade, and portrait lithographs of churchmen, professors and public figures were issued there in large numbers in the 1830s and 1840s, often with a facsimile signature and the sitter's titles lettered beneath, as here.
The sheet will interest collectors of German church history, of the Reformation tradition and of Biedermeier portraiture, and the strong head reads well framed with a wide mat.
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.
