Moritz Retzsch (1779 - 1857)

Moritz Retzsch

Friedrich August Moritz Retzsch was a German painter of the first half of the 19th century. He is known as a painter, graphic artist and printmaker, known for his illustrations of books, as well as his painting The Chess Players.

Moritz Retzsch worked mainly in lithography and was widely popular for his portraits, allegorical and mythological paintings, drawings and engravings. He illustrated the works of German writers and created a new style of publication based on illustrations with text serving as an introduction and commentary to each engraving. His editions always used the Gothic typeface.