Ruined palace at Megera where King Otto I of Greece with his brother Crown prince Maximillian stayed on their journey to Athens .... 10-22 May 1833 " Palast Ruine zu Megera, in welcher König Otto I von Griechenland mit seinen Bruder dem Kronprinzen Max von Bayern auf der Reise nach Athen in Mitte seiner Getreuen übernachtete, am 10/22 May 1833

Philhellenic: Munich Gustav Kraus. c1835. Black & white lithograph of King Otto at Megera in 1833, by Gustav Kraus. Formerly laid down to thicker paper, remains on verso, some creasing and spotting to margins Gustav Kraus 1804-1852. From the very beginning, lithography was Gustav Kraus' preferred artistic medium. This method (printing by using a limestone) had been developed by Alois Senefelder (1771-1834) in 1796/1798. Lithography was an obvious choice for several reasons: it was well established in Munich, the printing stone could be produced easily, and it was possible to fabricate many copies (lithographic limestone, if handled correctly, could be used indefinately). When Kraus' first lithographs were published in 1825, he had already completely mastered the technique. With two exceptions in 1848, he always used  modern chalk lithography, which allowed very smooth, fluid transitions and tonal values. n 1836, Kraus bought an estate in Munich's Maxvorstadt (Löwenstraße 19, today Schellingstraße 26). He also used the location as an artist's studio and a small publishing house. He published most of his works by himself. In the same year, he also attained the citizenship of Munich Numerous travels through Bavaria and beyond provided material for large landscape illustrations, and illustrations of military manoeuvres and other incidents. In addition Gustav Kraus also worked on drawings and paintings of other artists: he either produced lithographs as contract work, or he had not been present personally, as in the case of many illustrations pertaining to King Otto's (1815-1867; king from 1832-1862) military procession into Greece. The former are characterised by a very exact reproduction of the antetypes, while the latter display a masterful handling of composition and prop buildings. Philhellenic King Otto Megera