LISTNAU, Emanuel (born ca. 1740). Richly decorated baroque calligraphic and painted composition of an altar with crucifix, columns, pediments and decoration of clouds ALL OUTLINED IN MICROSCOPIC CALLIGRAPHY. Königsberg, 1761.

LISTNAU, Emanuel (born ca. 1740). Richly decorated baroque calligraphic and painted composition of an altar with crucifix, columns, pediments and decoration of clouds ALL OUTLINED IN MICROSCOPIC CALLIGRAPHY. Königsberg, 1761.

543 x 404 mm. Original pen and brush drawing on vellum, in various colors, Christ outlined against a pink colored panel, the whole altar set off by a blue background. Both the pink and the blue are painted by brush. Provenance: purchased from Lucien Goldschmidt, 30 April 1960.

OUTSTANDING MICROSCOPIC CALLIGRAPHY, all lines forming the altar, the Crucifix, Christ and all the other details, except the areas heightened in gold and one or two inscriptions, are actually not composed of lines but in tiny and precise calligraphy. On the verso is a description on how these texts ought to be read: They represent psalms 22, 69, 40, 16 and 110 and are followed by various other Biblical selections. Listnau was born in Danzig, and worked in Königsberg and Berlin.