18th Century Robert Strange Engraving of Lips, Tower of the Winds, Athens, 1762
18th Century Robert Strange Engraving of Lips, Tower of the Winds, Athens, 1762
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An important mid-18th century architectural engraving by celebrated Scottish engraver Sir Robert Strange (1721–1792), depicting Lips, the ancient Greek personification of the southwest wind, after the sculpted relief decorating the famed Tower of the Winds in Athens.
The winged male figure is shown in dramatic horizontal flight, draped in classical robes and holding part of a ship's stern ornament, an attribute associated with the southwest wind and its relationship to maritime travel. The original relief forms part of the octagonal Tower of the Winds, or Horologion of Andronicus Cyrrhestes, one of the best-preserved monuments of ancient Athens.
Executed with exceptionally fine linear shading, this engraving was produced for James Stuart and Nicholas Revett's monumental publication The Antiquities of Athens, one of the most influential architectural publications of the 18th century and a major catalyst for the Greek Revival movement in Britain and Europe.
The plate bears Strange's engraved signature, “R. Strange Sculpᵗ.”, at lower right together with its chapter and plate reference.
Artist / Engraver
Sir Robert Strange
Scottish, 1721–1792
Subject
Lips, Personification of the Southwest Wind
After the ancient sculpted relief on the Tower of the Winds, Athens
Publication
James Stuart and Nicholas Revett
The Antiquities of Athens, Measured and Delineated
Volume I, London, 1762
An important mid-18th century architectural engraving by celebrated Scottish engraver Sir Robert Strange (1721–1792), depicting Lips, the ancient Greek personification of the southwest wind, after the sculpted relief decorating the famed Tower of the Winds in Athens.
The winged male figure is shown in dramatic horizontal flight, draped in classical robes and holding part of a ship's stern ornament, an attribute associated with the southwest wind and its relationship to maritime travel. The original relief forms part of the octagonal Tower of the Winds, or Horologion of Andronicus Cyrrhestes, one of the best-preserved monuments of ancient Athens.
Executed with exceptionally fine linear shading, this engraving was produced for James Stuart and Nicholas Revett's monumental publication The Antiquities of Athens, one of the most influential architectural publications of the 18th century and a major catalyst for the Greek Revival movement in Britain and Europe.
The plate bears Strange's engraved signature, “R. Strange Sculpᵗ.”, at lower right together with its chapter and plate reference.
Artist / Engraver
Sir Robert Strange
Scottish, 1721–1792
Subject
Lips, Personification of the Southwest Wind
After the ancient sculpted relief on the Tower of the Winds, Athens
Publication
James Stuart and Nicholas Revett
The Antiquities of Athens, Measured and Delineated
Volume I, London, 1762
14" W x 9.5" H
14" W x 9.5" H
James Stuart and Nicholas Revett's The Antiquities of Athens was among the first major scholarly publications to document the monuments of ancient Athens through carefully measured architectural drawings and engravings. Volume I was published in London in 1762 and helped introduce accurate representations of ancient Greek architecture to a broad European audience.
The Tower of the Winds, constructed in Athens in antiquity and traditionally attributed to Andronicus Cyrrhestes, is an octagonal marble structure whose eight exterior reliefs personify the principal winds. Each wind was represented according to its perceived character and effects.
Robert Strange engraved several of the wind reliefs for Stuart and Revett's publication. Contemporary catalogues of Strange's oeuvre specifically record Lips, the southwest wind, as one of these plates. Strange would later become one of Britain's most celebrated reproductive engravers and was knighted by King George III in 1787.
This engraving therefore represents both an important record of an ancient Greek monument and an early document of the 18th-century European fascination with Classical architecture that would develop into the Greek Revival.
James Stuart and Nicholas Revett's The Antiquities of Athens was among the first major scholarly publications to document the monuments of ancient Athens through carefully measured architectural drawings and engravings. Volume I was published in London in 1762 and helped introduce accurate representations of ancient Greek architecture to a broad European audience.
The Tower of the Winds, constructed in Athens in antiquity and traditionally attributed to Andronicus Cyrrhestes, is an octagonal marble structure whose eight exterior reliefs personify the principal winds. Each wind was represented according to its perceived character and effects.
Robert Strange engraved several of the wind reliefs for Stuart and Revett's publication. Contemporary catalogues of Strange's oeuvre specifically record Lips, the southwest wind, as one of these plates. Strange would later become one of Britain's most celebrated reproductive engravers and was knighted by King George III in 1787.
This engraving therefore represents both an important record of an ancient Greek monument and an early document of the 18th-century European fascination with Classical architecture that would develop into the Greek Revival.
Mid-18th Century Circa 1762
Mid-18th Century Circa 1762
Etching and engraving on laid paper.
Etching and engraving on laid paper.
Originally issued as a plate in James Stuart and Nicholas Revett's The Antiquities of Athens, Volume I, London, 1762. Subsequent provenance unknown.
Originally issued as a plate in James Stuart and Nicholas Revett's The Antiquities of Athens, Volume I, London, 1762. Subsequent provenance unknown.
Antique condition with age-related toning, handling wear, minor discoloration, foxing and/or surface marks consistent with a work on paper of this age. Visible irregularities and wear are present around the sheet edges and margins. The print appears to have been removed from a bound volume at some point in its history.
Dimensions provided are approximate. Please review all photographs closely for the most accurate representation of condition.
Antique condition with age-related toning, handling wear, minor discoloration, foxing and/or surface marks consistent with a work on paper of this age. Visible irregularities and wear are present around the sheet edges and margins. The print appears to have been removed from a bound volume at some point in its history.
Dimensions provided are approximate. Please review all photographs closely for the most accurate representation of condition.