Finely-printed portrait of a Swiss cartographer

REINHARDT, Joseph.

Louis Pfyffer, Seigneur de Wyher, Lieutenant-General des Armées de Sa Majesté Très-Chret.ne, Commandeur de l'Ordre Royal et Militaire de St Louis, &c. Né à Lucerne en 1716.
Basle: Chrétien de Mechel, 1786. Etching and aquatint with fine original hand colour. Sheet 250 x 175mm.

A portrait of Franz Ludwig Pfyffer von Wyher (1716-1802), an officer in the French king's Swiss Guard, using a rock as an easel while sketching on Mont Pilate, looking down on Lucerne.
In 1786 Pfyffer completed the world's first three-dimensional relief map, depicting the area around Lake Lucerne, a task that took him 24 years. His map has been on display in the Glacier Garden in Lucerne for over a century. Pyyffer's military career was also successful: he retired with the rank of lieutenant general in 1768.


Stock ID : 20323