The Holstein Gate, Lubeck, Antique Steel Engraving after Carl Werner, circa 1877

A tall, upright steel engraving of the Holstein Gate in Lubeck, the great brick city gate seen head on from the road leading into town. Its two massive round towers, crowned with steep conical roofs and spires, flank a gabled central block with a deep arched gateway, through which carriages and figures pass. Behind the gate rise the twin spires of St. Mary's Church, and to either side stand tall gabled merchant houses, with the masts of ships glimpsed at left.

The broad foreground is busy with everyday life. At left, children and women gather around a stone block; in the center a small girl walks toward the viewer with a basket; at right, market women sit under large parasols with baskets of produce while customers stop to buy. A sky of high, rolling clouds fills more than half the sheet and gives the composition its stately height.

The Holstentor, built in the fifteenth century, is the emblem of Lubeck, the old Hanseatic port on the Baltic. The plate is after a painting by Carl Werner, whose signature appears in the image at lower left, and was engraved by J. Godfrey. The imprint is that of Cassell, Petter & Galpin of London, and this view appeared in their Picturesque Europe in the late 1870s.

The engraving shows the full range of the steel engraver's craft: the brickwork of the towers is rendered in fine, even hatching, the clouds in soft graded lines, and the small figures with lively precision. The script title and imprint are printed in the lower margin. The printed image is clean.

The upright format makes this an excellent choice for a narrow wall, between windows or beside a doorway, and it would look particularly handsome in a simple black or walnut frame with a wide mat.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.