Jan Luyken (aka Johannes Luyken;
Jan Luijken) (1649–1712)
“Joshua Makes the Sun and the
Moon Stand Still” (aka “Josua doet Son en Maan
stil staan”; “Josué fait arréter Le Soleil & la Lune”—titles inscribed in Dutch
and French on the plate]), 1704, plate 29 from a series of sixty-two Old and
New Testament biblical prints first published by Pieter Mortier (1661–1711)
in 1708. This impression is from the 1732 edition published in Amsterdam
by Jan Covens (1697–1774) and Corneille
Mortier (fl.1688–c1743) in “Histoire les plus Remarquables
de l'Ancien et du Nouveau Testament” (Most notable stories from the Old and New
Testaments).
For those unfamiliar with the Biblical description of
this scene, the following extract offered by BibleGateway from “The Book of Joshua”,
chapter 10, verses 7–14 may be helpful:
“7 So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his
entire army, including all the best fighting men.
8 The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do
not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will
be able to withstand you.’
9 After an all-night march from
Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise.
10 The Lord threw them into
confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely
at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut
them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah.
11 As they fled before Israel on
the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down
on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of
the Israelites.
12 On the day the Lord gave the
Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: ‘Sun,
stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.’
13 So the sun stood still, and
the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is
written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and
delayed going down about a full day.
14 There has never been a day
like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely
the Lord was fighting for Israel!”
(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+10-12).
Etching on fine laid paper with a small margin around
the platemark and backed with a support sheet.
Size: (sheet) 36.2 x 46.9 cm; (plate) 34 x 44.5 cm;
(image borderline) 32.5 x 43.5 cm.
Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (left)
“Edit. à J. Covens et C. Mortier.”; (left of centre) “Josua
doet Son en Maan stil staan. Josua X.v. 12.”; (right of centre)
“Josué fait arréter Le Soleil & la Lune. Josue X.v.12”; (right) “Johannes
Luyken. Inv et Fecit./26.”
State ii (of ii) with the change of publisher from
Pieter Mortier I to his son, Corneille Mortier and Corneille’s brother-in-law,
Jan Covens, and the erasure of the privilege. Lifetime/early impression (based
on the crisp quality of the lines showing no sign of wear to the printing
plate).
Van Eeghen 3712 (Pieter van Eeghen & Johan
Philip van der Kellen 1905, “Het werk van Jan en Casper Luyken”, Amsterdam,
Frederik Muller & Co., vol. 2, p. 662, cat. no. 3712 [https://archive.org/details/gri_33125001866108/page/n293/mode/2up]).
Van Eeghen (1905) offers the following description of
this print:
(Transl.) “In the foreground to the right, Joshua is
surrounded by the Israelite warriors; in the second ground [middle distance?]
the confused army of the Amorites, above which a violent shower of hail breaks
loose.” (p. 662).
Condition: richly inked and well-printed, near
faultless impression with the centre-fold of publication flattened and virtually
invisible. The sheet in near pristine/museum quality condition with no tears,
holes, folds, losses, abrasions, stains, foxing or signs of handling and laid
onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.
I am selling this museum-quality etching in an
exceptionally fine state of preservation for AU$284 (currently US$206.53/EUR174.48/GBP156.46
at the time of this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) 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 spectacular
etching of a war featuring hail, sun and moon portrayed with the scale and the
grandeur of a Cecil B. DeMille film, 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
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