Ridinger, Johann Elias (Ulm 1698 – Augsburg 1767). S. Ioannes Baptista. John the Baptist with cross beam entwined with ribbon and the lamb at the right in an oasis, pointing with the left at the not visible Jesus. Mezzotint by Johann Jacob Ridinger (1736 Augsburg 1784). Inscribed: Ioh. Iacob Ridinger sculps. / Ioh. El. Ridinger del. A.V., otherwise within a baroque cartouche as above. 50.3 x 36.6 cm.
Provenance
Counts Faber-Castell
their Ridinger sale 1958
with its lot no. 107
on the underlay carton
Radulf Count of Castell-Rüdenhausen
(1922-2004)
Thienemann + Schwarz 1269; Silesian Ridinger collection at Boerner XXXIX, 1997 ( “Very rare”, 1885 ! ); Counts Faber-Castell (1958) 107.
Not in Weigel, Art Stock Catalog I-XXVIII (1838/57) , Coppenrath Collection (1889 f.) , Reich auf Biehla (1894) , Helbing XXXIV (Works by J. E. and M. E. Ridinger; 1900) , Rosenthal, Ridinger list 126 (1940).
With margins round about 2-2.5 cm wide. – Throughout creased and with large corner tear off upper left with slight touching of the subject margin free of any depiction. The impression itself of fine chiaroscuro.
The rarity preprogrammed by the way as according to expert Sandrart (1675) the technically conditioned extremely fast wearing off mezzotint plate permits 50-60 good impressions only.
Correspondingly already in 1856 Thienemann, pages VIII + 270 :
“ The mezzotints are almost not available in the trade anymore
… all worked by and after Joh. El. Ridinger (are) that rare that they are to be found almost only in some public, grand print rooms. I have come across most of the described ones only in the famous print room at Dresden … ”
Offer no. 14,959 / EUR 98. (c. US$ 133.) + shipping
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