A pair Johann Elias Ridinger’s etchings after Johann Heinrich Roos

Johann Elias Ridinger (aka Johann Elias Riedinger) (1698–1767)

Two tondo scenes featuring ruins after Johann Heinrich Roos (1631-85), c.1730s, from the series, “Mammals after Roos”, published in Augsburg by Johann Friedrich Probst (1721–81).

Etchings on laid paper trimmed unevenly and lined on conservator’s support sheets.

Size of left print: (sheet) 24.4 x 28.4 cm

Size of right print: (sheet) 24 x 24.4 cm

Each print is lettered in two lines with production and publication details below the circular borderline: “Ioh. Heinrich Ros inv et del, Cum Priv..Sac.Caes,.Maj, / Ioh. Elias Riedinger Sculps, Aquae forti Reg: ½. Fol. No. 6. Ioh: Frid: Probst, Haered. Ier. Wolffy excud. Aug..V.´

Other prints from the same series may be seen at the British Museum:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?searchText=Roos&people=109921

Thienemann 1856 undescribed (Thienemann, Georg, Leben und Wirken des ... Thiermalers und Kupferstechers Johann Elias Ridinger, mit ... Verzeichniss seiner Kupferstiche, Schwarzkunstblätter, Leipzig, Rudolph Weigel, 1856)

Condition: rich and well-printed impressions, trimmed unevenly with some sides still intact with the platemarks. Both prints have been laid down on conservator’s support sheets. Beyond the issue of the uneven edges (somewhat rectified by the prints having been lined on support sheets) the prints are in reasonably good condition, but the print shown on the left has an abrasion at the lower left and the print shown on the right has a few minor marks.  The print shown on the left has a wide left margin with a faded and curiously interesting ink notation by an old hand.

I am selling this pair of marvellous early 18^th century etchings for AU$230 (currently US$171.07/EUR159.85/GBP134.48 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world. If you are interested in purchasing two exceptional prints, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

These prints have been sold

The term “tondo” (the plural is “tondi”) are round compositions designed to be independent of other images. In paintings the term is usually reserved to describe a work larger than 60 cms, but with prints and sculptures this determining factor is not relevant—or not as relevant (see “The Art Bulletin”, Vol. 83, No. 2, June 2001, p. 349).

One attribute that is commonly found in tondi compositions is that they are invariably presented contained within a square shape, as seen in this pair of prints. One reason is for this arrangement is a straightforward and practical: a square is easier to frame than a circle. Another reason is that a circle is more difficult to cut as a printing plate than is a square. Beyond these technical advantages, a square picture hung on a wall is more likely to be in accord (i.e. “fit in”) with rectangular shaped artworks along with the perpendiculars and horizontals of surrounding architecture.

What I find interesting about this “squaring” of the circular format (i.e. framing a tondo within a square) is that this arrangement lends the suggestion of dynamism to the circular image. By this I mean that a tondo composition appears to have more rhythmic life and pictorial vitality when it is framed within a square by virtue of a viewer perceiving contrast—perhaps subliminally—between the calm and stable shape of a square abutting the constantly revolving energy of the tondo’s round shape.