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Ten Commandments, London, December 3, 1730

1730
Not on view
The largest and most ornate of Buchinger’s Ten Commandments framed by architectural elements, this sheet is part of a group of extraordinary drawings the artist executed in Scotland and England in about 1730. Buchinger was by then already known as “The Greatest German Living.” This outsized demonstration piece cannot be tied to a patron and may have served, as Ricky Jay speculates, as an exemplar of Buchinger’s artistry to be kept in his stall when he was performing in public spaces. The magnificent calligraphic micrography, visible in the roundels between the tablet of Moses, the decorated initials, and the architectural ornament, exemplifies his artistic practice.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Ten Commandments, London, December 3, 1730
  • Artist: Matthias Buchinger (German, Ansbach 1674–1739)
  • Date: 1730
  • Medium: Pen and ink on vellum
  • Dimensions: 14 1/2 in. × 21 in. (36.8 × 53.3 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Ricky Jay, 2015
  • Object Number: 2015.699.1
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Calligraphic Trompe-l'œil Calendar, Matthias Buchinger German, Pen and red, brown, and black ink, brush and gray wash
Calligraphic Trompe-l'œil Calendar
Matthias Buchinger
1709
A tulip, a butterfly of the species Arctia caja (garden tiger moth), and a beetle (possibly a longhorn), Barbara Regina Dietzsch German, Opaque and transparent watercolor on parchment; partial framing lines in metallic gold paint (trimmed at upper edge)
A tulip, a butterfly of the species Arctia caja (garden tiger moth), and a beetle (possibly a longhorn)
Barbara Regina Dietzsch
ca. 1750-60
Border Designs for the Mortlake "Acts of the Apostles" Tapestries, Franz Cleyn German, Watercolor with white heightening, details in pen and ink and graphite
Border Designs for the Mortlake "Acts of the Apostles" Tapestries
Franz Cleyn
ca. 1626–36
Design for a Wall Panel or Ceiling with The Virgin and Saints Interceding before Christ for the Souls of the Lost, Johann Baptist Enderle German, Pen and black ink, watercolor and gouache on laid paper
Design for a Wall Panel or Ceiling with The Virgin and Saints Interceding before Christ for the Souls of the Lost
Johann Baptist Enderle
1771 or before
An Allegory of Fortune with Two River Gods, Hans Jakob Ebelmann German, Pen and black ink and gray and blue wash over black chalk
An Allegory of Fortune with Two River Gods
Hans Jakob Ebelmann
1624

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