Willem van Nieulandt II’s etching, “Satan Tempts Christ in the Desert”, c1617

Willem van Nieulandt II (aka Willem Adriaensz. van Nieulandt II; Guglielmo Terranova) (1584–1635)

“Satan Tempts Christ in the Desert” (aka “Satan Christum in Solitudine Tentat”; “Landschap met de verzoeking van Christus”; “Landscape with the Temptation of Christ”), c1617 (1606–1628), plate 3 in the series of four plates, “Italian Landscapes with Biblical Scenes” (aka “Italiaanse landschappen met Bijbelse voorstellingen”).

Etching on laid paper with small margins.

Size: (sheet) 27 x 34.4 cm; (plate) 23 x 32.4 cm; (image borderline) 22 x 31.8 cm.

Numbered and lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “3.”; (centre) “Satan Christum in Solitudine tentat”.

Hollstein Dutch 3 (FWH Hollstein 1956, “Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts ca. 1450–1700: Meer–Ossenbeeck”, vol., 14, Amsterdam, Menno Hertzberger, p. 162, cat. no. 3); LeBlanc 3 (Ch. Leblanc 1854[–1889], “Manuel de l'amateur d'estampes, contenant un dictionnaire des graveurs de toutes les nations: ouvrage destiné à faire suite au Manuel du libraire par J.Ch. Brunet”, vol., 3, Paris, p. 99, cat. no. 3).

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

[Transl.] “In an Italian landscape in front of a tree, Christ is tempted by the devil to turn a stone into bread. In the background a river with two people in a rowboat and someone on the bank. In the right background a city” (http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.158110).

Condition: a strong and well-printed (faultless) impression with small margins. The sheet is in a near pristine condition for its considerable age with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains, foxing or signs of handling.

I am selling this beautiful 17^th century etching that was designed for a suite of Italian scenes with biblical themes, but may be more connected to the Flemish landscapes of the artist’s teachers (Jacob Savery and Paul Bril)—note the eye-catching and symbolic juxtaposition of living and dead trees in the foreground and the tiny, but symbolically significant, arched gateway at far right leading into the substance of the scene—for the total cost of AU$302 (currently US$218.54/EUR193.89/GBP162.96 at the time of posting 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 early landscape etching in a near pristine condition, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.