La vue de Regio ville de la Calabre
| Reference: | s30635 |
| Author | Georg Balthasar PROBST |
| Year: | 1785 ca. |
| Zone: | Reggio Calabria |
| Printed: | Augsburg |
| Measures: | 400 x 300 mm |
| Reference: | s30635 |
| Author | Georg Balthasar PROBST |
| Year: | 1785 ca. |
| Zone: | Reggio Calabria |
| Printed: | Augsburg |
| Measures: | 400 x 300 mm |
Description
Rare perspective view of Reggio Calabria, showing the city during the earthquake of 5 February 1783 that razed it to the ground.
Made in the style of the so-called “vieu optique”, it is taken from the work Collection des Prospects, published in Augsburg. The views in this series were intended to be seen through the zogroscope, an optical instrument with a magnifying glass and a reflecting mirror set at 45°.
The image was placed upside down at the base and observed through the large convex lens in the mirror, where it could be seen upright, enlarged and three-dimensional; this explains why the title at the top is printed upside down.
Copperplate, contemporary colouring, bilingual legend (German and French), very slight oxidation in the white margins, otherwise in very good condition.
Georg Balthasar PROBST (1732-1801)
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Georg Balthasar Probst 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 intended as vues d’optiques, which were published in various places during the last half of the 18th century, including Paris, Augsburg and London. He was also known for his portraits.
Probst came from an extended family of printers, whose businesses can all be traced back to the publishing firm of Jeremias Wolff (1663-1724). After Wolff's death his firm was continued as “Wolff’s Heirs” (Haeres Jer. Wolffii) by his son-in-law Johann Balthasar Probst (1689-1750). After Probst’s death in 1750, his descendants divided the business and published under their own imprints: Johann Friedrich Probst (1721-1781), Georg Balthasar Probst (1732-1801) and Johann Michael Probst.
Another part of the Wolff-Probst firm was acquired by the Augsburg publisher Johann Georg Hertel (1700-1775), whose son Georg Leopold Hertel had married a sister of the Probsts. In the next generation, Georg Mathäus Probst (d. 1788), son of Georg Balthasar Probst, also became an engraver of portraits and views.
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Georg Balthasar PROBST (1732-1801)
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Georg Balthasar Probst 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 intended as vues d’optiques, which were published in various places during the last half of the 18th century, including Paris, Augsburg and London. He was also known for his portraits.
Probst came from an extended family of printers, whose businesses can all be traced back to the publishing firm of Jeremias Wolff (1663-1724). After Wolff's death his firm was continued as “Wolff’s Heirs” (Haeres Jer. Wolffii) by his son-in-law Johann Balthasar Probst (1689-1750). After Probst’s death in 1750, his descendants divided the business and published under their own imprints: Johann Friedrich Probst (1721-1781), Georg Balthasar Probst (1732-1801) and Johann Michael Probst.
Another part of the Wolff-Probst firm was acquired by the Augsburg publisher Johann Georg Hertel (1700-1775), whose son Georg Leopold Hertel had married a sister of the Probsts. In the next generation, Georg Mathäus Probst (d. 1788), son of Georg Balthasar Probst, also became an engraver of portraits and views.
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