Wendel Dietterlin (the Elder) (c. 1550–99)

“Plate 60”, 1598, from Dietterlin’s treatise on architectural ornament, “Architectura”, published in Nurnberg, 1598. This impression is most likely from the 1674 edition.

Etching (from an iron plate) on fine laid paper

Size: (sheet) 29.5 x 22.6 cm, (plate) 24.7 x 18.3 cm.

Condition: well-printed but slightly grey impression (i.e. there is light wear to the plate) with full margins (as published) and in good condition but with a few light spots of foxing on the left side (more noticeable verso than recto). There is also evidence of the print having been mounted at some stage (e.g. a pin hole lower left corner, a chip in the upper left corner and traces of glue stains at each corner).

I am selling this extremely rare etching, executed by one of the early architectural visionaries of the 16th century, for AU$116 in total (currently US$84.58/EUR74.73/GBP58.90 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this visual feast of architectural ornamentation, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This etching of a fireplace has many of the hallmarks of Dietterlin’s eccentricity that made him famous: a conceptual “smudging” of styles that was uniquely of his own concoction.

Ostensibly, this and his other designs for architectural features published in “Architectura” (1598) were created to showcase how the artist could adapt and apply the five orders of classical architecture to meet the design needs of his time—the late 16^th century. For those familiar with Greek and Roman architectural styles, however, the underlying principles of classical design that he is sought to reference have been subsumed to a personal taste for the bizarre.