Raphael "Die Madonna des heilige Sixtus." [The Madonna of Saint Sixtus]

Raphael Sanzio da Urbino (1483-1520). "Die Madonna des heilige Sixtus." [The Madonna of Saint Sixtus]

From Die Vorzüglichsten Gemälde der Königlichen Galerie in Dresden.  Dresden: Franz Hanfstaengl, 1836.  Large folio.  Lithograph.  Chine appliqué.  Full margins.  Very good condition.

This image, produced by lithography to represent one of the major paintings at the Royal Gallery in Dresden, is an exquisite example of the fine quality achievable by the lithographic method.  In 1836, lithography was just beginning to be used in the United States, but within the next few decades it would become the method of choice for many print series, such as Currier and Ives and their contemporaries.

Lithographs from this work are much more intricate and sophisticated than those from the same period in the U.S.  The use of chine appliqué also accounts for the delicacy achieved in these images.  The fine Chinese (rice) paper picked up much more of the subtlety of the image from the lithographic stone.  The best stones were fine Bavarian limestone, so the best lithographs of the period were German, due to proximity to the source for the matrix.