Ephemera The Bronze Horseman

Original antique brochure with watercolours on copper engraving, presumably from the 1800s. The original image was made and printed in by Friedrich Justin Bertuch, a German publisher and patron of the arts in the book Bilderbuch für Kinder, 1807. The image features the creation and the opening parade of The Bronze Horseman, an equestrian statue of Peter the Great in Senate Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was opened to the public on 7 August 1782. Commissioned by Catherine the Great, it was created by the French sculptor Étienne Maurice Falconet. The name influenced an 1833 poem of the same name by Alexander Pushkin, which is widely considered one of the most significant works of Russian literature. The image includes a Latin inscription Verm. Gegenst. CXXXIV Melanges. CXXXIV Misc. Subj. CXXXIV Miscellanea. CXXXIV. Very good condition, pencil marks, traces of glue, light browning.