Ferdinand von Rayski (attributed), Prussian Riding Guard. About 1825. Ferdinand von Rayski1806 Pegau - 1890 Dresden Pencil drawing. Unsigned. Verso with another sketch of a horse. Verso inscribed "F.v.Rayski" in pencil probably by another hand. Mounted in passepartout at the upper corners, there dated in blue pencil. Not in the WVZ Walter. Paper minimally yellowed and finger-marked.Corner missing at upper right. Dimensions: 17,2 x 24,5 cm, Psp. 53.5 x 39.5 cm. Ferdinand von Rayski 1806 Pegau - 1890 Dresden German portrait and history painter. 1816 first drawing lessons with Traugott Faber. From 1821 joined the royal cadet corps Dresden-Neustadt, from 1823 attended the drawing class at the academy of arts. 1825 Promotion to second lieutenant in Ballenstedt in the Harz Mountains. From 1829 Rayski devotes himself exclusively to painting. 1831-34 Returns to Dresden and attends the art academy. 1834/35 Participates in the annual academy exhibitions. 1832 and 1834 purchase of two paintings by Rayski by the Sächsischer Kunstverein. End of 1834 until 1835 journey to Paris. 1836 lives in Trier, end of the year in Frankfurt a. M. 1837 avance to the most popular portrait painter of the Franconian aristocracy. 1839 Return to Dresden, where he remained until his death, producing portraits of the Saxon aristocracy. Rayski remained childless and unmarried until his death and worked for a small circle of clients throughout his life. His work was only discovered at the beginning of the 20th century and was represented by 20 works at the exhibition of the century in the National Gallery in Berlin.