(Attrib.) Gregor Fentzel, “Midday”, c. 1650, after Adriaen Collaert and Maarten de Vos

(Attributed to) Gregor Fentzel (also known as Gregorius Fentzel) (active 1640–1660)

“Afternoon” (also known as “Middag”), circa 1650

Technical Details & Condition:

Engraving on fine laid paper with wide margins, fully backed with a support sheet of archival-quality washi paper. This is the second plate from the celebrated four-part series “The Four Times of the Day”, published in Nuremberg by Paulus Fürst (active 1608–1666). It is engraved in the same direction after Adriaen Collaert’s original print (circa 1587–1588). As with Collaert’s original engraving, the composition is based on the related preparatory drawing by Maarten de Vos (aka Maarten de Vos; Maerten de Vos) (1532–1603) preserved in the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris.

This is a strong and well-printed impression. The sheet has been expertly stabilised on its backing sheet. There is professional restoration work to an old tear along the vertical centre-fold line, as well as to abrasions in the German text below the image. Light, even age-staining is visible throughout the margins, and a previous collector’s notations on the verso show through slightly in the lower-left margin.

Iconographic Descriptions

• The British Museum describes the composition: “Sol flying in the clouds above a midday landscape with a grand house and formal garden with fountain and peacock and scenes of harvesting and youthful figures resting under the shade of a tree” (BM 1901,0611.79).
• The Rijksmuseum inventories the scene as: “Afternoon. Allegory with Apollo in the clouds as Meridies, the personification of the afternoon. Below on earth, activities related to the life stage of youth or young adulthood: working the land and lovers in a garden. Part of the series of the four times of the day” (Rijksmuseum RP-P-OB-5121).

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 25.2 x 33.5 cm
• Plate: 21.8 x 27.1 cm
• Image borderline: 19 x 26.3 cm

In-Plate Lettering:

• Below the image in two columns of two lines: “Den Mittag laße dir des Tages Arbeit theilen, / mach mit ihr Stillestand. Was nit ruht unterweilen, // [Es da]uret selten lang. Der Tag es ſelbſt bekennt: / [Es iſt dur]ſchattet ex, ie heiſſer daß es brennt.”

English Translation:

“Let midday divide the day's work for you; make with it a standstill. What does not rest once in a while, rarely lasts long. The day itself confesses: It is cast in shadow, the hotter it burns.”

References:

• Hollstein Dutch 1455 (copy e)
• New Hollstein Dutch 1364

Price & Shipping:

AU$322 (approximately US$226.35 / €195.63 / £168.91), inclusive of worldwide express shipping. Please note that import duties and taxes are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this rare 17th-century engraving exemplifying the mastery of the Netherlandish school, please contact me directly at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. A secure, itemised PayPal invoice will be generated to complete your purchase smoothly.