Rattengifverkoper

About this artwork

verzamelaarsmerk, verso, gestempeld: Lugt 2228

Art Historical Context

### Rattengifverkoper ( Poison Seller) Step into the bustling street life of 18th-century Europe with *Rattengifverk*, a charming 1732 etching by Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich (2–1774), a prolific German Rococo artist and etcher based in Dresden. Known for his witty genre scenes inspired by 17th-century Dutch masters like and Ostade, Dietrich captures everyday vendors and tradespeople with lively detail. The title translates from Dutch as "Rat Poison," evoking a peddler hawking his dubious wares—perhaps a nod to the humorous, gritty realities of urban life amid the opulent courts of Saxony...

About the Artist

Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich · 1712–1774

Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich (1712–1774) was a German painter and etcher of considerable versatility, celebrated in his own time for a chameleonic ability to work convincingly in the manner of the great Dutch and Flemish masters of the preceding century. Born in Weimar, he received early training from his father and later studied under Alexander Thiele in Dresden, the city with which his caree...