Mazeppa - On Horseback, lithogr. from the 19th Century.

"MAZEPPA. I" | under the engraving signatures from left to right: Gez. v. Bülow / Verlag v. Carl Nöhring in Berlin / Druck v. W. Loeillot in Berlin.; Original mid-19th century lithograph, 40.2 x 52.9 cm. on a 54.3 x 66.4 cm. sheet, after conservation.
The print is modeled on an 1826 painting by Horace Vernet, who was inspired by 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 the theme (including J. Slowacki, his "Mazeppa" of 1839 is the only drama that lived to see a staging while the poet was still alive).
The first 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 the Left Bank of 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.
Condition: yellowing of the paper, discoloration visible mainly in the margins, creases, cracks and losses of the paper preserved - secured, two larger creases overlapping the graphic.
Source: description of tab.I of the series of 4 graphics: https://objektkatalog.gnm.de/objekt/VK3580