1796 Hand Colored Print of Italian Pastoral Waterfall Scene. A small herd of goats and their herder are visible bottom left in the image, with the title "Cascatella Superiore a Tivoli" bottom middle below it. The words "A. C. Dies incise Roma 1796" are written in the print below the image bottom left. Illegible writing in pencil bottom right. Framed. Writing in English in red pen on the back: "Original Italian prints made in 1796. French Mats and Gold Seal Moulding made in Norway." 

Condition: Image has slipped down under matting. Commensurate with age. 

Overall Size: 19 1/4 x 24 x 1 in. 

Sight Size: 11 1/2 x 15 in. 

In 1796 printing technology saw a significant advancement with the invention of lithography by Alois Senefelder in Germany. This method involved writing on a limestone plate with a greasy crayon, treating it with acid, and then printing with oil-based ink. Lithography was a revolutionary process because it allowed for the creation of multiple prints from a single plate, making it a more efficient and cost-effective way to print than previous methods. Earlier processes deteriorated rapidly, and as such prints from before this time are much rarer. At first used predominantly for making maps, it became the most widely adopted printmaking practice by the early 19th century for nearly every application, including art, portraiture, and mass production. Before lithography, the primary printing methods were woodblock printing and letterpress. Woodblock printing involves carving an image into a block of wood and then applying ink to it to transfer the image onto paper, and continues to be used around the world, mostly notably in Japan. Letterpress used individual metal type to create text and images, requiring a press to apply pressure to the type onto paper, and remained particularly popular up into the 20th Century thanks to industrial advancements in the speed and accuracy of printing.

Image has slipped down under matting. Commensurate with age.