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Framed and on the wall
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Saints and Devotion
Pope Gregory XVI, Antique Lithograph Portrait, circa 1831
Anno Domini MDCCCXXXIcirca 1831
€175
$195 · £150
Original print, not a reproduction
Ships worldwide from the Netherlands, flat, insured and tracked. 14-day returns.
- Date
- circa 1831
- Technique
- Lithograph
- Coloring
- Uncolored
- Condition
- Good. Good condition for its age. Toning, light soiling and soft creases across the sheet; small nicks to the edges and a creased lower right corner. Please review the images for further condition details.
- Faith
- Christianity
- Collection
- Saints and Devotion
- Era
- 1800 to 1849, Travellers and the costume books
- Stock no.
- BG-14343-31
What the condition grades mean
- Excellent
- Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
- Very good
- Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
- Good
- Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
- Fair
- Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
A large lithographed portrait of Pope Gregory XVI, lettered in bold capitals in German "Pabst Gregor XVI.", using the old spelling of Papst. The drawing is signed in the stone at lower left of the image with the artist's name followed by "del." and the date 1831, the year in which Gregory was elected pope.
Gregory XVI, born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari at Belluno in 1765, entered the Camaldolese order of monks as a young man and became a scholar and theologian of note. He was elected pope in February 1831 and reigned until his death in 1846. His pontificate was marked by revolts in the Papal States, by firm opposition to political liberalism, and by a strong interest in the missions, in learning and in the museums of the Vatican, where he founded the Etruscan and Egyptian collections.
The pope is shown half length and nearly frontal, his head turned slightly to the right, wearing the small white zucchetto. Over a dark cape with a broad fur edge he wears a richly embroidered stole, worked with scrolling foliage, cartouches and papal emblems. The artist draws the face in soft, careful tone, with a long nose, heavy eyelids and a firm mouth, while the stole and cape are freely sketched with the crayon so that the figure dissolves into the paper at the lower edge.
Lithography spread rapidly across the German speaking lands in the 1820s and 1830s and was the natural medium for portraits of rulers and churchmen issued for a broad public. An early likeness of Gregory XVI such as this one will appeal to collectors of papal portraits, of church history and of early lithography. It would frame well in a gilt or dark molding in a study or library.
Condition: Good condition for its age. Toning, light soiling and soft creases across the sheet; small nicks to the edges and a creased lower right corner. Please review the images for further condition details.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
