Portret van Adelbert von Chamisso
1833
Medium
steel engraving
Dimensions
109; 149
About this artwork
height 149 mm x width 109 mm
Art Historical Context
This 1833 steel engraving by Karl Barth presents a compact portrait of Adelbert von Chamisso, measuring just 149 by 109 millimeters. Created during the height of Romantic-era interest in literature and natural history, the work captures its subject in a format well suited to reproduction. Steel engraving, a relatively new technique at the time, allowed artists to achieve exceptionally fine lines and durable plates, making it ideal for book illustrations and affordable prints that reached wide audiences. The small scale suggests the piece may have been intended for private albums or as a front...
About the Artist
Karl Barth · 1787–1853
Karl Barth (also known as Carl Barth or Johann Carl Barth, 1787–1853) was a versatile German artist who worked as a copperplate engraver, draughtsman, painter, illustrator, and portrait engraver during the late eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth centuries. Born in Eisfeld in the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen and dying in Kassel, Barth exemplified the multi-talented artist-craftsman of the Roman...