Daniel Chodowiecki's Travel Diary from Berlin to Dessau

Daniel Chodowiecki was a Polish-German painter and draughtsman born in Gdansk. He spent most of his life in Berlin, where he became director of the Prussian Academy of Art. Chodowiecki became famous for his graphic illustrations produced using the etching technique. He left behind over 4,000 drawings, 2,000 etchings and only 30 paintings. "Journal gehalten auf einer Lustreise von Berlin nach Dresden, Leipzig, Halle, Dessau etc. " is a diary of a journey from Berlin to Dessau via Dresden, Leipzig and Halle made between 10th June and 29th June 1789 by D. Chodowiecki with 3 companions. It was intended for print and contains impressions from the journey, detailed descriptions of architectural objects, galleries and private collections encountered on the way. The text includes 6 sketches made by D. Chodowiecki during the journey in parallel to his notes. Pages 6–7 include a drawing in brown pen and pencil, at bottom left there is an inscription: “No. 1 Der Naturmalienmaler K; 2. Cki jun; 3. Pregiger P; 4. Chki sen”. Individual figures are marked with numbers and, according to Chodowiecki’s description, these are equestrian portraits of: the painter Andreas Ludwig Krűger (1743–1805), the artist’s son Wilhelm (1765–1805), the artist’s son-in-law Jacques Papin and a self-portrait in a cape draped over the shoulders. This drawing was transferred by his son Wilhelm Chodowiecki onto a copper plate in 1795, and was thus disseminated. Other sketches include: an architectural motif from the Catholic Church in Dresden; a drawing of an Egyptian mummy from the collection of the Japanese pavilion in Dresden; a sketch of a column’s capitol; a sketch of a flying angel from the plafond of St Nicholas' Church in Leipzig; a sketch of a young worker’s head.
The manuscript written in German in one hand, sewn in a booklet in a contemporary leather folder. Attached to the folder is a draft of D. Chodowiecki’s letter to the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin, folded in fours."