Johann Heinrich Lips (Kloten 1758-1817)

An Allegory of Friendship

Details

Johann Heinrich Lips (Kloten 1758-1817)
An Allegory of Friendship
with an inscription by Johann Caspar Lavater 'Amitié par Lips L'amitié ne veut que d'etre aimée et qu'aimer respectueusement. Elle respecte et aime le genre humain dans l'individu qui en semble à elle le representant le plus digne et le plus sy[mp]atisa[nt] a[vec e]lle. Tranquillité, serenité d'ame, Energie, fidelité, Confiance, et le desir le plus pur et le plus actif, de procurer à son objet les plaisirs les plus purs, les plus spirituels et les plus louables. enfant l'ame immortelle. A.D.[?] 28.XI.1789 J.C. Lavater'
pencil, watercolour, varnished, unframed
9 5/8 x 7¾ in. (24.4 x 19.7 cm.)

Lot Essay

The Swiss minister Johann Casper Lavater (1741-1801) was convinced that the science of physiognomy made it possible to know about a person's interior self from their exterior body. He published his beliefs in many publications, including Esaays on Physiognomy, 1788-9, which were lavishly illustrated with profile portraits and linear profile outlines. Lips was the main engraver of the plates working from his own drawings and after drawings by others.
The friendship between Lips and Lavater, celebrated in the present drawing, is documented by many annotated portraits of the physiognomyst by the artist. There is another version of the composition in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.

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