Das Gespenst / Rhijnsolt u. Lucia

About this artwork

verzamelaarsmerk, verso, gestempeld: Lugt 2228

Art Historical Context

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowie, a leading Polish-German artist of the Enlightenment era, created *Das Gespenst /ijnsolt u. Lucia* in 1775. This intimate etching, measuring just 104 mm by 124 mm, captures dramatic moment likely drawn from literature—a ghostly apparition involving the characters Rhijnsolt and. Chodowiecki, director of the Berlin Academy of Arts, was renowned for his thousands of prints illustrating moral tales, novels, and plays by authors like Shakespeare and Goethe, blending Rococo elegance with emerging Neoclassical clarity. Etching allowed Chodowiecki to achieve exquisite detail in facial expressions and atmospheric effects, using acid to bite fine lines into a copper plate for reproducible yet nuanced imagery. Prints like this were vital in 18th-century Europe, making high art accessible beyond elite patrons through books and collections. The work's verso bears a collector's mark (Lugt 2228), underscoring its value among connoisseurs. This piece exemplifies Chodowiecki's skill in evoking emotion through everyday drama and the supernatural, offering visitors a window into 1770s cultural fascination with ghost stories and human folly.

About the Artist

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki · 1726–1801

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki (1726–1801) was a German painter and printmaker of Polish-Huguenot descent who became the most celebrated graphic artist in 18th-century Germany. Born in Danzig (now Gdańsk), he created approximately 2,000 etchings that serve as an invaluable visual record of German bourgeois life during the Enlightenment. Largely self-taught, Chodowiecki moved to Berlin in 1743 and ach...