Crispijn de Passe’s engraving, “Destruction of the Tower of Babel”, 1612

Crispijn de Passe the Elder (1564–1637)

“Destruction of the Tower of Babel”, 1612, from the series of engravings made for the first edition of the “Liber Genesis.”

Engraving on fine laid paper with small margins and lined with added margins of a support sheet.

Size: (support sheet) 28.3 x 29.7 cm; (sheet) 9.8 x 14.1 cm; (plate) 8.5 x 12.7 cm; (image borderline) 7.5 x 12.7 cm

Lettered on plate in two lines of Latin verse in two columns below the image borderline: “Pyramidem vanae gentes ... hoc Babylonis opus.”

State i (of iii)

Note that my attribution of this print to the first state is because the impression is crisp with little sign of wear. Moreover, the copy held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/414782) is numbered “26” below the Latin verses which this impression is not. Presuming that the numbering on the Met impression is on the plate rather than inscribed by hand (the number is not mentioned in the description by the Met) this may indicate that there are two states. Going further, the copy held by the Rijksmuseum (http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.collect.161323) I believe is a third state impression as the Latin verses have been replaced with Dutch text and the number “26” has been shifted to the far right corner. Note that there were three editions of this print and the final one (held by the Rijksmuseum) was published by Isaac Greve in Amsterdam between 1700–50.

Hollstein XV.289-91.855; Veldman 178.26 (Ilja Veldman 2001, “Profit and Pleasure: Print Books by Crispijn de Passe”. Rotterdam.)

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

“God is destroying the tower of Babel. To punish the people for their pride, he confuses the language of the people, so that they can no longer understand each other. In the margin a two-line caption in Dutch.” (ibid.)

Condition: a strong, well-inked and faultless impression with small margins in near pristine condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains, foxing or signs of use) laid on an archival support sheet.

I am selling this museum quality lifetime impression for AU$214 (currently US$168.31/EUR136.23/GBP120.99 at the time of posting this listing). Postage for this print is extra and will be the actual/true cost.

If you are interested in purchasing this small but magnificent and rare engraving—mindful that the British Museum does not hold a copy and the other major museums have later impressions—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

Sometimes it is the simple principles that make an image memorable. For instance, note how de Passe has visually explained the spatial positions of the figures in the lower left corner by modelling the closest two with light and shade rendered in contoured strokes set against the figures further back rendered as dark silhouettes with crossed hatched angled strokes while the sky beyond is treated in aligned horizontal lines. Note also how de Passe has connoted weight and mass in his representation of the clouds by darkening the lower aspects of their forms and ensured that there are no concavities within the complex of the cloud’s convex forms. To my eyes, one of the most simple and effective of all principles that de Passe employs is his use of dots to give a grit of surface texture to the landscape and the suggestion of rain drops to the radiating burst from heaven hitting the tower at its top.

Cornelis Bloemaert’s engraving, “Sitting Madonna”, after Titian, 1633–84

Cornelis Bloemaert II (1603–1692)

“Sitting Madonna” (Rijksmuseum title), 1633–84, after a detail of the painting (arguably) by Titian in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection (see https://www.museothyssen.org/en/collection/artists/titian/virgin-and-child)

Engraving on laid paper trimmed with thread margins around the platemark and lined with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 32.6 x 26.2 cm; (plate) 32.3 x 26 cm; (image borderine) 28.1 x 25.2 cm

Lettered below the image borderline in four rows of Latin: “DILECTUS MEUS MIHI INTER UBERA MEA COMMORABITUR. Cant: I / Ill. mo  Dno Francisco Hobier Consiliario Regis Christ. mi in suis consilijs status et a privatis. D.D. / Titianus pinxit. […] Cornelius Bloemaert sculp./ Cum privil: S.C.M.tis et Regis Christ. mi Romae Superiorum licentia.”

(Google Trans. “Beloved to me between my breasts. Cant: 1 / Ill. mo Mr. Francisco Hobius advisor of King Christ. In my own state and private Councils. D.D. / Titian painting. [...] Cornelius Bloemaert sculp./ when Privil: S.C.M.tis and King Christ. my permission of superiors in Rome.”)

Hollstein 22

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“The Virgin, three-quarter length, holding the Child sitting on her knee, both looking forward; an oval composition after Titian (?) Engraving”

(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3190764&partId=1&searchText=cornelius+bloemaert&page=1)

See also the description of this print at the Rijksmuseum: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.collect.81327

Condition: a faultless impression trimmed close to the platemark in near pristine condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains, foxing or signs of use) laid on an archival support sheet.

I am selling this museum quality engraving of the highest order for AU$300 (currently US$187.63/EUR191.09/GBP169.30 at the time of posting this listing). Postage for this print is extra and will be the actual/true cost. Note that the impressions of this print held by the British Museum and the Rijksmuseum are both flawed whereas this impression is near perfect.

If you are interested in purchasing this stunningly beautiful engraving by the master engraver, Cornelis Bloemaert, described by the British Museum in the artist’s bibliography as “the major figure of the day”, 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

The curator of the British Museum advises that Bloemaert’s engraving “is a detail from a composition known through a painting which is now in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, and where the Virgin is depicted whole-length” and notes that “the extent of the repaints make it difficult to judge whether the canvas is indeed a work by Titian” (see BM no. X,1.44). The curator also points out that there is a copy of the painting in the Palazzo Spada, Rome.

Leaving aside the question as to whether the painting that this engraving reproduces is actually by the hand of the great Titian or not, Maria del Mar Borobia, the Head Curator of Old Master Painting at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, makes the insightful observation that the “Virgin’s pose suggests the 'Rest on the Flight into Egypt' in the collection of the Marquis of Bath while that of the Child recalls Titian’s canvas in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich” (https://www.museothyssen.org/en/collection/artists/titian/virgin-and-child)  

Mar Borobia also cites Niccolò Boldrini’s print, “Venus and Cupid” as “repeating” the same composition (see https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/362022), but from what I can see when looking at Boldrini’s print I’m not too sure about this … of course everyone has their own opinions about such relationships.

“St Andrew”, by an unidentified engraver from the circle of Giulio Bonasone, after Michelangelo, c1550

Unidentified engraver from the circle of Giulio Bonasone (1500/10–1574)

“St Andrew", c1550, after a detail of the engraving by Giulio Bonasone (c1546) (see BM no. H,4.70 and the copy held by the Rijksmuseum http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.collect.85022), after a detail of Michelangelo’s (1475–1564) “Last Judgement” in the Sistine Chapel.

Engraving on laid paper trimmed with small margins around the platemark and re-margined on a support sheet.

Size: (re-margined support sheet) 38.4 x 28.6 cm; (sheet) 20.1 x 13.2 cm; (plate) 19.8 x 12.5 cm

Numbered at lower right: “40”

Copy (of a detail) after TIB 28 (15). 79 (132) (Suzanne Boorsch & John Spike (eds.) 1985, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Italian Masters of the Sixteenth Century”, vol. 28, Abaris, New York, p. 283); Bartsch XV.132.79

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Naked male figure supporting a cross on his back, after Michelangelo's Last Judgement.”

(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3223666&partId=1&searchText=after+michelangelo&page=3)

Condition: superb impression trimmed close to the platemark with a small restored loss (virtually invisible) to the tip of the upper left corner and re-margined on an archival support sheet.

I am selling this rare engraving executed around the same time that Michelangelo was working on the “Last Judgement” in the Sistine Chapel for AU$240 (currently US$187.63/EUR153.07/GBP135.70 at the time of posting this listing). Postage for this print is extra and will be the actual/true cost.

If you are interested in purchasing this visually arresting engraving, 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

There are a few features of this engraving separating it from Bonasone’s version of St Andrew (originally titled less specifically as “Study of a Figure Bearing a Cross”) from Michelangelo’s “Last Judgement” in the Sistine Chapel. For example, the figure immediately behind St Andrew has been omitted and the composition shows a closer view of the saint with the added modesty of a loin cloth. Nevertheless, both prints share the same stylistic leaning to what Madeline Cirillo Archer (1995) in her commentary volume on the TIB catalogue raisonné (vol. 28) describes as Marcantonio Raimondi’s “technique and sculptural approach” (p. 287). Regarding this approach, Archer explains that in the late 1540s Bonasone had a “developed understanding … for the plastic potential of burin work that follows the volumes of the body” (ibid).

Interestingly, just as this unidentified engraver has omitted details from Bonasone’s print, so too had Bonasone omitted details from Michelangelo’s composition. This notion of only keeping what the reproductive artist perceived to be significant features of an original composition, however, was a fairly standard practice during the Renaissance era and was certainly a practice that even Raimondi engaged in. To help explain the need to change compositions, Archer (1995) proposes the following insight into Bonasone’s selective process: “Bonasone has separated the group [St Andrew and the figure behind him] from its crowded environment and created a new composition which, in its isolation, magnifies its power” (ibid).

This image of St Andrew (albeit Bonasone’s version) is well known to avid book readers as it features on the cover of Bernard Barryte’s (2015) marvellous, enormous and heavy exhibition catalogue, “Myth, Allegory, and Faith: The Kirk Edward Long Collection of Mannerist Prints” (exh. cat. Cantor Arts Center). With reference to this composition, Barryte offers the following wonderful description of its power:

“… Bonasone seems purposely to minimise his own virtuosity, employing relatively simple means to render the figure. He depends on design—the precise placement of the figure on the plate and the stark contrast between black ink and pale paper—for visual drama and employs a minimalist combination of relatively long, parallel, curving lines, simple cross hatching, and selective stippling to reveal the rotundity of muscles and the massive solidity of the figure.” (p. 368).

Jan Saenredam’s engraving, “Adam Forced to Labor”, 1604, after Bloemaert

Jan Saenredam (1565–1607)

“Adam Forced to Labor” (TIB title), 1604, after Abraham Bloemaert (1564–1651) plate 5 from the series of six engravings, “Story of Adam”.

Engraving on laid paper trimmed with narrow margins around the image borderline and lined with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 28.1 x 19.8 cm; (image borderline) 26.4 x 19.6 cm

Inscribed within the image borderline: (lower left) “A. Bloemaert. in. / J. Saenredam Sculp. 5”

Lettered below the image borderline in two columns of two lines of Latin text: corner "Horrida iam ... fuso."

State i (of ii) (before the address of Isaac Houwens [fl.1653])

TIB 4 (3). 17 (226) (Walter L. Strauss (ed.) 1980, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Netherlandish Artists”, vol. 4, Abaris, New York, p. 326); Bartsch III.225.17; Hollstein 5.I; Roethlisberger 1993 76 (Marcel G Roethlisberger 1993, “Abraham Bloemaert and his sons: Paintings and prints”, 2 vols, Ghent)

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Adam and Eve working; Adam digs with a spade and Eve sits at right spinning; they are accompanied by two children (Cain and Abel) who tend a vegetable patch; beyond at right is a farmstead, some felled wood and a herd of goats; after Bloemaert

(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1490012&partId=1&searchText=Bloemaert+adam&page=1)

See the six plates in the series held by the British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?searchText=1856,0815.51.

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

“Adam and Eve and their children Cain and Abel in the wilderness outside the Earthly Paradise. Adam works the ground with a spade. Eva spins wool. Cain and Abel harvest vegetables. In the background their hut.” (http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.169217)

Condition: a near faultless, first state impression in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, stains, foxing or signs of use), trimmed close to the image borderline and laid upon an archival support sheet.

I am selling this absolutely stunning lifetime impression from 1604 showcasing Saenredam’s distinctively elegant style of rendering subtle tonal gradations with gentle curving strokes exemplifying the Mannerist spirit of the time for AU$350 (currently US$273.63/EUR223.23/GBP197.90 at the time of posting this listing). Postage for this print is extra and will be the actual/true cost.

If you are interested in purchasing this masterpiece of engraving, 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

Although the spirit of Mannerism with the gentle curving rhythms and the joy in showcasing exceptional skill in controlling the burin is clear, my focus is on the way that Saenredam (in following Abraham Bloemaert’s design) gives the portrayed scene a glowing aura. At first I thought that the “glow” was a result of the finely aligned crosshatched lines that allow dots of light to sparkle in the shadows. This may be true, but I finally decided that the glowing effect was not about the details but rather about the organisation of the composition as a whole. In short, I realised that Saenredam was employing the same visual device that also delighted Titian: a counterpoint organisation of lights and darks in a checkerboard of horizontal and vertical bands.

(Publisher) Augustin Quesnel’s etching, “Vulcanus”, c1620

Unidentified artist

Augustin Quesnel (1595–1661) (publisher)

“Vulcanus” (aka “Vulcan" or “Hephaistos”), c1620, after Plidoro da Caravaggio (c1500–1536/7?) perhaps also after Raffaello Guidi (fl1585-1615) and Hendrik Goltzius (1558–1617) who both made interpretative prints after Polidoro da Caragaggio’s design.

Etching on laid paper trimmed along/near the platemark and re-margined on a support sheet.

Size: (support-sheet) 26.5 x 22 cm; (sheet) 9.9 x 7.8 cm

Inscribed on plate at lower right: “Aug. Ques. excud.”

Condition: a crisp, richly inked and excellent impression in near perfect condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, stains, foxing or significant signs of use) trimmed along the platemark laid upon an archival support sheet.

I am selling this little gem from the Renaissance era showcasing the interest in Roman gods for AU$189 (currently US$147.23/EUR120.30/GBP106.51 at the time of posting this listing). Postage for this print is extra and will be the actual/true cost.

If you are interested in purchasing this print of Vulcan showing not only his attributes (the blacksmith’s hammer and casque) but also a landscape featuring a figure attending to, or collecting, Vulcan’s fire, 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

Sadly, I have been unable to establish the name of the etcher who made this small, but graphically strong, image of Vulcan, nevertheless, I have no problem attributing the original design to Polidoro da Caravaggio as there are two very famous prints after his design interpreted by Raffaello Guidi and Hendrik Goltzius. Despite the clear similarities in the way that Vulcan is portrayed in these prints, there is a significant difference in the contextual setting for the god that makes this composition unique: a landscape (or is it a seascape?) setting for Vulcan rather than the niche setting of Guidi and Goltzius.

What makes the landscape setting very interesting for me is that it celebrates Polidoro’s fascination with chiaroscuro (i.e. theatrical side lighting) and contre-jour effects (i.e.back lighting) the latter of which is not evident in the versions by Guidi and Goltzius. For those unfamiliar with Polidoro’s artwork, he is best known for his black and white frescoes. What has made Polidoro’s name most memorable is not what should make an artist famous: he was murdered by his studio assistant.

Cornelis Schut’s etching, “Madonna with Child”, c1647

Cornelis Schut (I) (1597–1655)

“Madonna with Child” (Rijksmuseum title), c1618–1655, published by J Haest (fl. 1647) with privilege (provider unknown).

Etching on laid paper trimmed with narrow margins and re-margined on a support sheet.

Sze: (support-sheet) 30.5 x 26.4 cm; (sheet trimmed unevenly) 13 x 11cm; (plate) 12.2 x 10.2 cm

Inscribed on plate below the image borderline: (left) “Corn: Schut in. cum privilegio"; (right) “à Anvers. Chez J. Haest.”

State ii (of ii) (with the addition of the publication details at lower right)

Hollstein Dutch 48-2 (2)

Ref: Gertrude Wilmers 1996, “Cornelis Schut (1597-1655): A Flemish Painter of the High Baroque”, Brepols, Turnhout.

Ann Diels 2009, “The shadow of Rubens: Print publishing in 17th-century Antwerp: Prints by the history painters Abraham van Diepenbeeck, Cornelis Schut and Erasmus Quellinus II”, pp. 88–104, 134–137, 207–240.

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

“Maria leans her left arm on a balustrade and carries the Christ Child high on her right arm. The Christ Child makes a blessing gesture.”

(http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.173739)

Condition: a crisp, richly inked and excellent impression with a minor printer’s mark/smudge above the Virgin’s head, otherwise in near perfect condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, stains, foxing or significant signs of use) with small margins and laid upon an archival support sheet.

I am selling this graphically strong image of the Virgin and Child by one of the highly influential old masters after the death of Rubens in1640 for AU$189 (currently US$147.56/EUR120.38/GBP105.36 at the time of posting this listing). Postage for this print is extra and will be the actual/true cost.

If you are interested in purchasing this vibrant etching almost glowing with spiritual life, 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

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when looking into the background of artists who craft potent devotional images like this one, after all history is studded with rebels like the great Caravaggio, but I must say that I wasn’t expecting to see that Cornelis Schut was a murderer. Ah well … everyone has their personal proclivities! No doubt Schut’s choice to execute MANY etchings of the Virgin and Child and similar spiritually transcendent scenes helped soothe his soul. Moreover, with regard to the theopathetic aspect of Schut’s choice of subject, Ann Diels (2009) makes the point in “The Shadow of Rubens: Print Publishing in 17^th-century Antwerp”, that Schut’s interest in famously showcasing St Nicholas of Myra—a saint who intercedes for prisoners—“was certainly not arbitrary” (p. 89).

From what I have been able to find out about the publication of Schut’s prints, the majority of them were published by the artist with privilege (but the source of this privilege seems to be unclear). This is one of the very few original prints by Schut that is lettered with publication details: “à Anvers. Chez.” which in translation means, “in Antwerp at J. Haest” —J Haest was a Belgian publisher active around 1647. Having these publication details also helps with the attribution of a date for this print so that it may be narrowed from the broad time window of 1618 to 1655 proposed by the Rijksmuseum to sometime around 1647.

Lorenz Frölich’s etching, “Psyche feeding Cerberus”, 1862

Lorenz Frölich (aka Lorenz Frølich) (1820–1908)

“Psyche feeding Cerberus”, 1862, from the series, “Amor and Psyche”, published by Pierre Jules Hetzel (1814–1886)

Etching in brown ink with light plate tone on wove paper

Size: (sheet) 38.5 x 32.3 cm; (plate) 36.8 x 31 cm; (image borderline) 26.7 x 16.3 cm

Inscribed on plate within the image borderline at lower edge left of centre: “L Frolich / 1862”

Ref: Lotte Thrane 2008, ''Tusmørkemesteren'', Vandkunsten, Copenhagen.

Proof state impression before the addition of inscribed text for publication.

Condition: a crisp and near faultless impression in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, stains, foxing or significant signs of use), with small margins and laid upon an archival support sheet.

I am selling this extremely rare proof state (before publication) impression by the famous illustrator of children’s books for AU$210 (currently US$139.21/128.20/GBP107.43 at the time of posting this listing). Postage for this print is extra and will be the actual/true cost.

If you are interested in purchasing this finely executed and elegant etching, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy. 

Looking at this very refined composition with the “right” pictorial components to hook a viewer’s attention and to sustain close examination helps to explain why the name of the artist who executed it, Frölich, became so famous in the 19^th century that a by-word for children’s books was simply: "un froelich" (see http://www.dodedans.com/Efroelich.htm).

For those unfamiliar with the scene portrayed here of Psyche tossing a cake to the mythological three-headed dog, Cerberus, her action was an act of survival rather than a good-natured dog-loving gesture. Essentially, Psyche is pacifying this guardian dog of Hades, so that she may cross the River Styx—shown below the rock ledge that she is navigating her way around—and gain entry into the underworld.

What I like about this composition is that the serpentine rhythm followed by the decorative “S”-shaped stem of the thistle (I hope that I am right about this being a thistle!) helps to connote the theme of katabasis (i.e. descent) underpinning this scene.