Zacharias Dolendo (aka Zacharias
Dolen) (1561–c1600)
“Christ before Caiaphas”, 1596–98, after
Karel van Mander I (1548–1606), plate 4 from the series of 14 plates
(including the title print [New Hollstein 36-49]), “The Passion”, published by Jacques
de Gheyn II (aka Jacob de Geyn) (1565–1629).
Engraving on fine laid paper trimmed
with thread margins around the image borderline (except for the lower margin
which retains the inscribed number “4”) and backed with a support sheet.
Size: (sheet) 14.5 x 10.4 cm
Inscribed on plate along the lower edge within
the image borderline: (left) "KVMandere inuen, Z, Do, scul,"; (left
of centre) "DGheÿn exc".
Numbered on plate below the image
borderline: (left) "4".
State ii (of ii) My attribution of this
impression to the second state is based on comparison of the BM’s first state
impression (1868,0612.444) with the second state impression held by the
Rijksmuseum (RP-P-BI-7129). There doesn’t seems to be any difference in the
inscribed lettering but I see a difference in the treatment of the distance
wall as in the second state the vertical lines appear to be redrawn with
greater strength.
New Hollstein (Dutch & Flemish) 40.I
(The De Gheyn family); New Hollstein (Dutch & Flemish) 60 (Karel van
Mander)
The British Museum offers the following
description of this print:
“Christ before Caiaphas; Christ is
presented by a group of soldiers to five priests in full regalia, including
Caiaphas; one of the soldiers draws back his arm to hit Christ; after Karel van
Mander”
See also the description of this print
at the Rijksmuseum:
Condition: crisp and well-printed
impression with restored light abrasions, trimmed to the image borderline and backed
with a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. The sheet is
in good condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, significant
stains or foxing). There are ink notes by an old hand below the image
borderline (recto).
I am selling this exquisitely rendered
and graphically strong engraving, for the total cost of AU$268 (currently US$198.14/EUR169.57/GBP151.05
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
very beautiful oldmaster engaraving executed before the time of Rembrandt,
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
For those who like to know the nitty
gritty detail about artists’ personal lives, the British Museum offers the
following insight—a little unexciting I have to admit—about Zacharias Dolendo (who
engraved this plate) based on the account offered by van Mander (whose design
Dolendo employed for its composition): “he made a good living, but died young
after leading a riotous life, with too much drinking.” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=126867).
To be honest, I wish I knew more about his “riotous life” but … I don’t.
What interests me about artists who live
riotous lives is that their artworks, like this beautiful engraving,
are invariably emotionally charged, but are also inexplicably rendered with delicate
detail—here I am thinking about one of the most important of the early
engravers, Hieronymus Wierix (purportedly a woman killer), Cornelis Schut (another
old master with a proclivity for murder) and not to forget the exploits of the
great Caravaggio.
Certainly, from my way of looking at the
finely rendered details in this scene from Christ’s passion (John 18:13,
18:19–24), the artist’s hand was not concerned with “neatness”—to borrow Michael
Bryan’s (1886) phrase in describing Dolento’s style in “Bryan's Dictionary of
Painters and Engravers” (3rd edition, p. 417). Instead, I see the
portrayed figures' forms as highly expressive in the way they are drawn. Note,
for example, how the almost mechanical vertical lines describing the
architecture—especially the distant arched wall—contrast with and give meaning
to the emotionally charged interactions of the figures. In short, what Dolento
has achieved with his exceptionally fine rendering style is to portray latent
violence by contrast of juxtaposed treatments.
