Italian Hand Colored Engraving by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein: Based on the Original Collection of Sir William Hamilton's Ancient Vases

Four figures race across a long black band, cloaks flying, one already stretching out both arms.

This hand colored engraving, based on the original collection of Sir William Hamilton's ancient vases, is after Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, from Naples, Italy, around 1791, in ink on paper. Scenes that wrap around a vase had to be unrolled flat for the engraver, which is why plates like this one take the form of long, narrow friezes. A nude runner leads at left. Two figures in pleated tunics and spotted cloaks follow, then a fourth swinging a club-like staff. All are colored orange against black, within a thin ruled border. The image is 12.75 inches wide and 3.13 high.

A chase scene, flattened for convenience.