Harmen Jansz. Muller's engraving, “Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane”, 1565

Harmen Jansz. Muller (1540–1617)

“Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane”, 1565, after Maarten van Heemskerck (aka Maarten van Veen; Martin Heemskerk) (1498–1574), from the series of seven plates, “The Seven Bleedings of Christ” (New Hollstein 376-382) with Latin verses lettered on plate below the image borderline by the classical scholar and Latin poet, Hadrianus Junius (aka Adriaen de Jonghe) (1511–1575)

Engraving on laid paper backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 24.8 x 29.6 cm; (plate) 20.7 x 25.3 cm; (image borderline) 19.6 x 25 cm

Inscribed on plate within the image borderline: (below the tree) “Heemskerck In”.

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: "Proxima .... grumi,"

Early impression (based on the lines showing minimal signs of wear to the printing plate).

New Hollstein (Dutch & Flemish) 377 (Maarten van Heemskerck) (Ilja Veldman [comp.] 1993–94, “The new Hollstein: Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts 1450–1700: Maarten van Heemskerck”, Roosendaal,  Koninklijke Van Poll, vol. 2, p. 81, cat. no. 377); New Hollstein (Dutch & Flemish) 57 (The Muller Dynasty [Harmen Jansz Muller]) (Ger Luijten et al. [eds.] 1999, “The new Hollstein: Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts 1450–1700: The Muller dynasty”, Rotterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum Sound and Vision Publ., vol. 1, p. 142, cat. no. 57).

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

(Transl.) “Christ praying in agony in the garden of Gethsemane. An angel presents him the cross and a chalice. Peter, James and John are sleeping in the foreground. Judas appears with a group of soldiers on the right. At the bottom in the margin a verse in Latin. Print is part of a series about the seven bleedings of Christ. During the prayer in Gethsemane his sweat fell to the ground like drops of blood.”

(http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.collect.157026)

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“The agony in the garden; Christ, with His arms outstretched, kneels before an angel holding a cross; three apostles slumber nearby by a stream; in the distance Judas leads some soldiers into the garden; after Heemskerck. 1565 Engraving”

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1534344&partId=1&searchText=HEEMSKERCK+proxima&page=1)

Condition: a crisp, well-printed early impression with margins (approx. 2 cm). The sheet is in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, folds, holes, abrasions, stains, foxing or significant signs of use) laid upon an archival support sheet of millennium quality washi paper.

I am selling this superb early engraving from 1565—the year that Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted “Hunters in the Snow” during what is now called Europe’s “Little Ice Age”—for the total cost of AU$305 (currently US$218.01/EUR193.49/GBP166.82 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world (but not, of course, any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries).

If you are interested in purchasing this amazing print that is not only an excellent example of an artist orchestrating simultaneous narratives, but is also a fine example of the lobulated style of Mannerism (i.e. a fascination with portraying lumps on trees and figures), please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold