Pieter Mortier, Sabbath Breaker Stoned and Korah, Dathan and Abiram, 1700, Engraving

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This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on … Read more This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Numbers 15, the man who broke the Sabbath is stoned, and Numbers 16, Korah, Dathan and Abiram destroyed. It is plate 57 of the series, a fine example of Dutch Baroque biblical engraving with the upper and lower compositions each set in its own engraved frame. The upper scene illustrates Numbers chapter 15, verses 32 to 36, captioned Overtreeder der Sabbath gesteenight, the Sabbath breaker stoned. The man found gathering sticks on the Sabbath is brought outside the camp and stoned by the congregation, shown here as a tangle of straining figures with raised stones below a hill fringed with palms. The lower scene takes Numbers chapter 16, the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram against Moses, with the caption Korah, Dathan ende Abiram levendigh door 't Vyer verteert. Moses stands with his staff raised while fire and smoke break out among the tents and the rebels and their households tumble into the flames. Pieter Mortier's Bible, issued in Amsterdam circa 1700, is one of the finest illustrated Bibles of the Baroque period. Its plates, with more than four hundred scenes, follow the sacred narrative from Genesis onwards, two scenes to a sheet, each captioned in Dutch and French beneath the chapter and verse. The upper image is signed O. Elliger del. at lower right for the draughtsman Ottmar Elliger; the other signatures on this sheet are only partly legible. Leading Dutch artists such as Gerard Hoet, Arnold Houbraken and Bernard Picart supplied designs, and the plates were worked with a dense, velvety burin that gives the scenes their dramatic light and depth, the qualities that make Mortier sheets so sought after today. The engraving is printed on laid paper with full margins and a blank verso, and is uncoloured, as issued. It rewards close viewing and is well suited to a study, library or quiet corner, either alone or hung as part of a series of Mortier Bible engravings, which together give a vivid sense of how the Dutch Baroque imagined the biblical world. The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, a small stain in the upper left margin and a frayed lower edge with small chips; the engraved image is clean. This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed. See less