RUSSIAN EMBASSY to Emperor Maximilian II of the Holy Roman Empire in Regensburg: after hand-colored woodcut (xylograph) from 1576. Late 1870s - early 1880s.

4 sheets glued together lengthwise.hand-coloured with watercolour. 43x146 cm. The woodcut depicts the embassy of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, sent in 1576 to Vienna to Emperor Maximilian II and received by him at the Imperial Diet in Regensburg. The embassy was led by Prince Zakhar Ivanovich Sugorsky (? -1582) and deacon Andrey Gavrilovich Artsybashev (?-1603). The authorship is attributed to Donat Hübschmann (Donat Hübschmann; ca. 1525/30-1583); it is also attributed to Jost Amman. Printed by Michael Petterle (Michael Petterle / Peterle; 1576-1595) in Prague. According to D.A. Rovinsky's opinion, the only genuine copy of this woodcut in the late 19th century was held in the Wiesbaden Museum. The biography of the collector states: "the director of the Public Library M.A. Korf passionately desired to acquire this woodcut. However, negotiations with the museum led to nothing. That's when Rovinsky stepped in. He offered some of his works in exchange for the woodcut. The administration of the Wiesbaden Museum immediately agreed," and St. Petersburg obtained the woodcut. (The current location of the original in Wiesbaden in Russia is not specified; the most likely place is the Public Library - now the Russian National Library). A specially made and hand-colored copy was created for D.A. Rovinsky, which gained circulation. Other reproductions made entirely by typographic methods are also known.