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Timestamp: 2019-04-23 14:52:26+00:00

Document:
Four Rococo engravings after the Austrian artist Johann Wolfgang Baumgartner, presenting allegories of the four elements in highly elaborate baroque illustrations incorporating dramatic events, fanciful architecture and a mixture of contemporary and allegorical figures within landscape settings. The complex illustrations portray both the beneficial and destructive aspects of each element, while inscriptions and Bible verses remind the viewer of God’s power to create and destroy, and the consolation provided by religious faith. The latter is personified by the Christian patron saints presiding over each scene on billowing clouds supported by putti. Thematic sets of engravings like this were popular in the 18th century, on subjects such as the four elements, the four seasons, the five senses, etc. In fact, Baumgartner and Klauber also collaborated on a set representing the Four Seasons.
Within each illustration are inscribed five or six Latin phrases followed by citations to verses from the Bible. The Latin phrases are not translations of the verses, but act more as prompts for contemplation. In some cases the verses refer to the element itself, as in Fire, where a scene of a castle burning is accompanied by a reference to the Genesis verse, “the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulfurous fire from the Lord out of heaven.” In others, their relationship to the imagery is more oblique, such as in Air, where beside a sailing ship and a man pointing to a compass is a verse from Proverbs admonishing, “A close neighbor is better than a distant brother” — with the ship perhaps referring to voyages that could separate loved ones.
The original drawing for Earth is in the collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (see References below). The female figure in the drawing was replaced by the figure of Saint Alexius in the print, but otherwise, the drawing is a mirror image of the engraving. The original drawing for Fire sold at auction in 2014 for 42,500 euros (see References).
Johann Wolfgang Baumgartner was an Austrian painter, draftsman and engraver in the Rococo style, based in Augsburg, Germany. He began as a landscape painter, and later became known for his architectural subjects. He executed frescoes for the churches of Gersthofen and Eggenhausen in the vicinity of Augsburg and worked at the Meersburg Palace. He made many drawings for engravings. His works are in museums around the world, including the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, but perhaps the largest collection of his works is in the Tyrolean State Museum in Innsbruck, Austria.
Johann Baptist Klauber was a German engraver, printmaker and publisher based in Augsburg. He collaborated with his brother, Joseph Sebastian Klauber on some of his works, and also engraved allegories of the four seasons and the four elements after Johann Wolfgang Baumgartner.
Elementum Aeris: S. Sebastianus Patronus contra pestem (upper left). Contemplare aethera [Contemplate the skies]. Iob. 15. v. 5 (lower margin center). Quasi aërum verberanus [Like a man beating the air]. 1. Cor. 9. v. 26. Sanat contritos corde [Heals the broken-hearted]. Pslm. 146. v. 3. Accepi comuneni aërem [I received air]. Sap. 7. v. 3. In turbine enim conteret [The storms to destroy]. Iob. 9. v. 17. Quali quis ventum teneat [Inquiries into the wind]. Prov. 27. v. 10. With sections labeled LUSUI, USUI, RUINAE, and ABUSUI [Sport, Use, Ruins, and Exploitation].
Elementum Aqua: S. Xavierus Patronus contra tempestates maris (upper left). Apparuerunt fonts aquarum. Ps. 17. v. 16 (lower margin center). NATURALIS. Fous ascendebat de terra. Gen. 2. v. 6. In Verbo ejus stetit aqua. Eccli 39 v. 22. MEDICA. De fonte aquae vitae. Apoc. 21 v. 1. ULTRIX. Illos perdidisti in aqua. Sap. 13 v. 5. ARTIFICIALIS. Non invenerunt ignem, se aquam. 2. Mac. 1 v. 20.
Elementum Ignis: S. Florianus Patronus contra incendia (upper left). Ignis vero nunquam dicit: sufficit. Prov. 30 v. 16. (lower margin center). Qui per fidem vicerunt regna — extinxerunt impetum ignis. Hebr. 11. v. 33-34. Ut evertat Urbes. 1. Reg. 23 v. 10 (or 16???). Quae coquenda sunt coquite. Exod. 16. v. 23. Pluit — sulphur et ignem. Gen. 19. v. 24. With sections labeled ARTIFEX, MILES, ULTOR, and COQUUS.
Elementum Terrae: S. Alexius Patronus contra terrae motus (upper left). Distribuit eis terram. Act. 13. v. 19 (lower margin center). Ultra non faciam commoveri. 4. Reg. 21. v. 8. Terra dedit fructum suum. Ps. 66. v. 7. Facta est ut hort voluptatis. Ezech. 36. v. 35. Aperi eis thesaurum tuum. Num. 20. v. 6. ­Dabis eis bibere vinum. Ierem. 35. v. 2. With sections labeled FRUGIFERA, PRETIOSA, PULCHRA, and DULCIS.
Publication credits: I.W. Baumgartner delin. Klauber Cath. Sc. et exc. Aug. Vind. C.P.S.C.M. [J.W. Baumgartner drew it, Klauber engraved and published it in Augsburg, with privileges of His Imperial Majesty].
Condition: Generally very good, recently professionally cleaned and deacidified, with some remaining toning, wear, handling. Outer dimensions of sheets vary slightly, but can be matted and framed the same size as a set.
Bénézit, E. Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs. France: Librairie Gründ, 1966. Vol. 1, p. 476. Vol. 5, p. 262.
“Elementum Terrae.” Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. https://art.famsf.org/johann-wolfgang-baumgartner/elementum-terrae-allegory-earth-19693276 (1 March 2019).
“Johann Wolfgang Baumgartner, Allegory of Fire.” Karl & Faber. 9 May 2014. https://www.karlundfaber.de/produkt/allegorie-des-feuers/ (1 March 2019).

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