The Colossus Of Rhodes – Vue D’optique Day/night, Seven Wonders Series, Probst, 1770

Technique and materials: hand-coloured etching, punch-perforated, with collage work and coloured paper inserts applied on the reverse
Period: 18th century (ca. 1770)
Attribution: Georg Balthasar Probst (Augsburg, 1732 – Augsburg, 1801)
Condition: good overall condition; the sheet shows slight undulations consistent with age and technique, without affecting the readability of the image or the illumination effect
Dimensions: 49 × 35 cm (with frame)

In the eighteenth century, before cinema and photography, images themselves were a form of entertainment. Optical views were refined and surprising objects: prints designed to be inserted into optical boxes, illuminated and viewed through lenses and mirrors. They could be displayed during evening gatherings, kept in cabinets of curiosities, or even rented, functioning as small domestic spectacles that combined knowledge, wonder and visual illusion.

This optical view depicts the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and belongs to the celebrated series dedicated to the Wonders published by Georg Balthasar Probst in Augsburg during the eighteenth century. The scene presents an imaginative and theatrical vision of the colossal statue at the entrance of the harbour, in keeping with contemporary iconography.

This example is especially notable for having been conceived specifically with a day/night effect. When viewed with frontal lighting, the image appears as a daytime scene; when backlit, it is transformed through a system of perforations and coloured paper inserts applied on the reverse. While impressions of the Colossus of Rhodes are known in several collections, examples expressly designed for day/night illumination are extremely rare, making this print one of the most sought-after variants within Probst’s production.

The workshop of Georg Balthasar Probst, born and active in Augsburg, was among the leading European publishers of vues d’optique, specialising in subjects of strong visual appeal such as distant cities, monumental architecture and the great Wonders of the World, conceived to astonish eighteenth-century audiences through light and optical illusion.