A Significant Collection Consisting Of Approximately 350 Intaglio Prints, Ca. 1840.

Collection of intaglio impressions, a memento of the Grand Tour

Circa 1840

An important collection comprising approximately 360 plaster casts, reproducing intaglios, cameos, and engraved stones from antiquity. Each cast is carefully arranged and numbered on a red velvet background, set in its original gilded wooden frame.

The vast iconographic repertoire includes portraits of emperors and illustrious figures, Greco-Roman deities, mythological figures, animals, as well as numerous historical, religious, and allegorical scenes. The large compositions in the lower section notably reproduce ancient friezes, battle scenes, processions, and chariot races.

Highly sought after by cultured 19th-century travelers, these collections of prints were acquired during the Grand Tour, particularly in Rome and Naples. They served as both a travel souvenir, a tool for studying antiquity, and a veritable “miniature museum,” reflecting the neoclassical taste and the era’s fascination with ancient glyptics.

Provenance: Marienburg Castle, Hanover; former collection of the Royal Family of Hanover; Sotheby’s auction organized by Ernst August of Hanover in the early 2000s.

Dimensions: 91 × 73 cm.

Condition: The set is in fairly good overall condition. A few impressions have small chips, and three of the large compositions are cracked. Original frame and mounting.