18TH CENTURY

The depiction of the four seasons on these plaques is after a series of prints by A.J. de Fehrt (1723-1774), a Parisian engraver who sometimes signed his works J.A. or Bernard de Fehrt. He was inspired by Rosalba Carriera, a Venetian artist (1675-1775), whose pastels of the 'Four Seasons' were painted around 1731 and are displayed at the Staatliche Gemäldegalerie Dresden. The allegory of Winter is reputed to be a self-portrait. See Thieme-Becker, Künstlerlexikon XI p. 348 for more information on de Fehrt and Thieme-Becker, Künstlerlexikon VI p. 75 for more information on Rosalba Carriera. See Woermann, Katalog des Königlichen Gemäldegalerie Dresden, 1908, p. 839 for a description of the Four Seasons by Rosalba Carriera.