4065 - Lutze, Gustav & Carlos Witte

Lutze, Gustav & Carlos Witte Masks of Dying Warriors by Andreas Schlüter (1659-1714), Berlin Zeughaus. Ca. 1857. 3 coated salted paper prints, mounted to original boards. Each ca. 28,6 x 21,1 cm (mounts ca. 36 x 26,9 cm). All boards stamped: "Atelier für Architectur, Fr. Schwechten, Königl. Baurath, W., Lützowstr. 68"; typographically inscribed: "Nach dem Original von Schlüter, photographiert von Lutze & Witte. In Commission bei L. Hasse & Co. in Berlin, Leipziger Str. No. 71, 1 Tr."; each numbered by hand. The Schlüterköpfe comprise 22 high-relief heads of dying warriors, designed by Andreas Schlüter, executed for the inner courtyard of Berlin’s Zeughaus in 1696-97. Set as keystones above the ground-floor arched windows, the masks form a powerful counterpoint to the martial trophies on the building’s exterior. Rather than relying on conventional grotesque types, Schlüter gave the heads a strikingly individual, expressive character. This rare early photographic record, made by the court photographers Lutze & Witte, preserves three of the celebrated Baroque sculptures in impressive detail. – Boards with slight foxing and time-stained, two prints faded and all with some small ink spots, one with slight fading in edges, otherwise in good condition.