Mazeppa - Bound to a Horse, lithogr., 19th c.

"DIE FESSELUNG| Mazeppa III" | under the engraving signatures from left to right: Lith. v. Bülow / Verlag v. Carl Nöhring in Berlin / Druck v. Gebr. Delius; Original mid-19th century lithograph, 38.9 x 51.8 cm, on a 54.5 x 66.9 cm sheet, after conservation.
The popularity of the Mazeppa theme began with G. Byron's poem "Mazeppa," published in 1819. The first plays about Mazeppa were staged just a few years later. Many painters, graphic artists, writers and composers of the 19th century referred to him (including J. Slowacki, his "Mazeppa" of 1839 is the only drama that lived to see a staging while the poet was still alive).
The third of at least four large-format prints in a series about Ivan Mazepa (a.k.a. Jan Mazepa Koldinsky, a polonized Ukrainian nobleman who lived from 1639 to 1709 and started out as a page of King John Casimir and ended up as Hetman of Left Bank Ukraine. In "Memoirs: J. Ch. Pask and in later poetic visions, Mazepa's romances seemed more interesting, for one of which he was allegedly punished by being tied naked to a horse), made by Bülow and published by Carl Nöhring in Berlin in the mid-19th century.
The series of lithographs may have been a reworking of an earlier series of 4 mezzotints, p.t. Histoire de Mazeppa peint par A. Colin, gravé par Sixdeniers. 4 beliss. stampe alla maniera nera in fol. mass, which was executed by Alexandre Sixdeniers (1795-1846), according to a drawing by A. Colin (this may refer to painter and lithographer Alexandre-Marie Colin, or his daughter Adele-Anais Colin Touduze, who also worked as a painter and illustrator - mainly for fashion magazines).
Condition: yellowing of the paper, discoloration visible mainly in the margins, creases, cracks and losses of the paper restored - protected.
Source: description of tab.III of the series of 4 graphics: https://objektkatalog.gnm.de/objekt/VK3578