See more objects with the tag Pompeii, color, classical motifs, painting.

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2025

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Book Illustration, Die schönsten Ornamente und merkwürdigsten Gemälde aus Pompeji . . . (The most beautiful ornaments and most remarkable paintings from Pompeii . . .)

This is a book illustration.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives as part of Saturated: The Allure and Science of Color.

It is dated 1829. Its medium is lithograph on paper.

Printed over one hundred years after Le Blon laid the foundations of the color printing process, Wilhelm Zahn’s book was nevertheless one of the first ornament pattern books created using color lithography, or chromolithography. Looking closely one can see pinhole registration marks used to align multiple plates when applying different colored inks. Zahn traveled to Italy in the 1820s, where he recorded the ornamental designs on wall paintings in Roman villas at Pompeii and Herculaneum.

It is credited Smithsonian Libraries, N5771 .Z34 1828.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 61.5 × 73.5 cm (24 3/16 × 28 15/16 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Saturated: The Allure and Science of Color.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/1108749977/ |title=Book Illustration, Die schönsten Ornamente und merkwürdigsten Gemälde aus Pompeji . . . (The most beautiful ornaments and most remarkable paintings from Pompeii . . .) |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=11 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>