Israël Silvestre, “View of the Mountain and Cave of Sainte-Baume”, c. 1640

Israël Silvestre (aka Israel Sylvestre) (1621–1691)

“View of the Mountain and Cave of Sainte-Baume” (aka “Gezicht op de berg en grot van Sainte-Baume”; “Natural view of the Sainte-Baume in Provence”; “Vue au naturel de la Sainte Baume en Provence”), c. 1640, published in Paris by Pierre Mariette I (1596–1657) with royal privilege from Louis XIV (King of France).  

Etching on fine laid paper with watermark.

Size: (sheet) 16.7 x 31.3 cm; (plate) 13.8 x 30.7 cm; (image borderline) 11.1 x 30.3 cm.

Inscribed in plate below the image borderline: (left) “Dessignée et grauée par Israel Syluestre”; (centre) “Veüe au naturel de la Saincte Baume en Prouence./ Auec priuilege du Roy”; (right) “A. Paris chez Pierre Mariette, rue S. Iacques a l’Esperance”.

LeBlanc 698; Faucheux 288

The British Museum offers the following description of this print: “Sainte-Baume in Provence: landscape with cascading river at right, and at left a fortified city standing at the bottom of a mountain ridge, with the entrance of the cave visible behind the town/ Etching” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_X-9-178).

See also the description of this print offered by the Rijksmuseum: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200255617.

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression with small margins. Beyond minor surface marks and areas of thinness visible when held to the light, the sheet is in a good condition, free from tears, holes, folds, or significant stains.

Price & Shipping: AU$262 (approx. US$169.95 / €147.32 / £129.48), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in purchasing this panoramic view looking towards the cave in the mountain where Christian tradition holds that Saint Mary Magdalene spent her final years—note the location marker of tiny angels in the sky above the saint’s grotto (though I may be mistaken about this). To inquire, contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com, and I will send you a PayPal invoice for a secure and convenient payment process.

Israel Silvestre, “View of Piere Ensize at Lyon”, c.1648

Israel Silvestre (aka Israel Sylvestre) (1621–1691)

“View of Piere Ensize at Lyon” (aka “Veuë de Piere Ensize à Lion”), c.1648, from a series of six plates, “Landscapes in France and Italy in Circles”, published by Jean Leblond I (aka Jean Le Blond) (c.1590/1594–1666) with the royal privilege of Louis XIV (King of France).

Etching on laid paper, trimmed with thread margins around the platemark and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 11.7 x 12 cm.

Lettered in plate: (upper left) “Veuë de Piere”; (upper right) “Ensize a Lion”; (lower left) “Le Blond excud.”; (lower right) “cum priuil Regis”.

LeBlanc 213

The British Museum and the Rijksmuseum offer descriptions of this print: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_X-9-257) and https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200255224.

Condition: This is a well-printed early impression, still showing the original lettering guidelines at the upper right. The print has been trimmed with a thread margin around the platemark and is backed with archival (millennium-quality) washi paper, providing wide margins. The sheet is in good condition, with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, or significant stains.

The total price for this historically significant, circular-format scene of a portside view in Lyon during the mid-1600s—depicting the banks of the Saône River—is AU$249 (approximately US$165.91, EUR €140.84, or GBP £121.85). This price includes worldwide express shipping. Please note that any applicable import duties are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you're interested in acquiring this interesting etching of the rocky promontory of Pierre Encize (“Incised Rock”) in Lyon, featuring the castle of Pierre Scize (formerly the Château de Pierre Scize) atop, please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I will gladly send you a PayPal invoice for a smooth and secure transaction.

Note that currently mail services from Australia to the USA have been suspended. Consequently, at the moment I am unable to accept purchases needing shipping to the United States.

This print has been sold 

Israel Silvestre’s etching, “Profil de la Ville de S. Denis”, c1645

Israel Silvestre (aka Israel Sylvestre) (1621–1691)

“Profil de la Ville de S. Denis”, c1645 (1636–1655), with verses inscribed on plate below the image borderline by French poet, Georges de Scudéry (1601–1667), published by Israel Silvestre in Paris with privilege by Louis XIV (King of France).

Etching on laid paper trimmed to the platemark on the sides with a margin on the upper and lower edges, backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 18.3 x 32.2 cm; (plate) 14.3 x 32.2 cm; (image borderline) 11.5 x 31.8 cm.

Inscribed on plate within the image borderline: (upper centre banderole) “Profil de la Ville de S. Denis”.

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (centre in sixteen lines of French verse in four columns) "Vous qu'on voit soupirer,/ Quand la parque vous apelle;/ Oserez vous murmurer,/ Voyant la grandeur mortelle.// Vous plaindrez vous de ces loix/ Dont les ordres vous menacent/ Et qui font passer les Rois/ Par ou tous les hommes passent.// Ces Magnifiques Tombeaux,/ Ces superbes Mausolées/ Ne marques, quoy quils soyent beaux/ Que des pertes signallées.// Rien ne peut long temps durer,/ Dans nos egalles fortunes;/ Moures donc sans murmurer,/ Ames foibles et communes." ([Transl.] “You that we see sigh,/ When the park calls you;/ Dare to whisper,/ Seeing the mortal grandeur.// You will complain about these laws/ Whose orders threaten you/ And which make Kings pass/ By or all men pass.// These Magnificent Tombs,/ These superb Mausoleums/ Do not mark, that they are beautiful/ Only reported losses.// Nothing can last long,/ In our equal fortunes;/ So die without murmuring,/ Weak and common souls."); (lower right corner) “I. Siluestre delineauit et fe. cum priuil. Regis.”

Faucheux 290.1 (Louis Étienne Faucheux 1857, “Catalogue raisonne de toutes les oeuvres qui format l'oeuvre d'Israel Silvestre”, Paris, Veuve Jules Renouard, p. 280, cat. no. 290.1); LeBlanc 702 (Charles LeBlanc 1854, “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, p. 514, cat. no. 702).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“View of St Denis, with horsemen and figures in the foreground, beyond the river, the open land, and the city dominated by the cathedral in the background; a banner bearing the title in the upper section”

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_X-9-174).

See also the description offered by the Rijksmuseum: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.176278

Condition: well-printed impression trimmed to the platemark on the sides and with a large margin on the upper and lower edges. There is a dot stain in the lower margin at left and the upper left corner has a pale stain; otherwise the sheet is in an excellent condition for its age and is laid onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

I am selling this beautifully engraved panoramic view of Saint-Denis—a northern region/suburb of Paris, approximately 9.5 km from the centre of Paris—showing the tall spire of the Basilica of Saint-Denis and its north tower before the dismantling of the tower in the mid-1880s, for the total cost of AU$208 (currently US$150/EUR127.75/GBP117.04 at the time of posting this print) 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 fascinating representation of the important landmarks of Saint-Denis viewed from the north-west in the 1600s, 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

Jacques Callot's etching, “The Nailing to the Cross”, c1619

Jacques Callot (1592–1635) (as inscribed on plate)

also attributed (by Mariette) to Israel Silvestre (aka Israel Sylvestre) (1621–1691)

“The Nailing to the Cross” (NGA title), c1619–24, from the series of seven plates, “La Grande Passion”.

Note: the curator of the British Museum offers the following insights about the series, “La Grande Passion”, in which this print features:

“The compositions were probably designed in Florence and engraved over several years, from 1619 to 1624, with the likely help of his workshop on some of the plates.

The set was meant to include more than just seven plates: there are 13 preparatory drawings, plus the Last Supper, which has been engraved but for which no sketch has been found.”

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1560019&partId=1&searchText=1861%2c0713.40&page=1)

Etching with engraving on fine laid paper trimmed at the image borderline and backed on a support sheet.

Size: (sheet trimmed with thread margins around the image borderline) 10.2 x 22.1 cm

Inscribed on plate at lower right corner: “Callot In”

I am unable to determine the state of this print beyond being a lifetime impression (based on the crisp quality of the line showing no sign of wear to the plate), because the text lines of the first state and the plate number “7” of the second state have been trimmed off. Nevertheless, the retention of the horizontal lines in the sky at the upper right corner suggest that this impression is from the first state as these lines are not strong in the second state (based on comparision with the second state impression held by the BM [see No. 1872,1012.3456]).

Meaume 1860 17 (Édouard Meaume 1860, “Recherches sur la vie et les ouvrages de Jacques Callot”, Paris); Lieure 1927 287 (Jules Lieure 1924–7, “Jacques Callot, catalogue de son oeuvre gravé', Editions de la Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Crucifixion: two men nailing Christ on the cross and three others digging a hole for the cross; many figures attending the scene …”

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1560116&partId=1&searchText=callot+crucifixion&page=1)

See also the description of this print at the Rijksmuseum:

http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.40072

Condition: richly inked and well-printed early impression, trimmed with thread margins around the image borderline and backed with a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. The sheet has numerous restored losses that are virtually invisible.

I am selling this visually arresting view of the crucifixion hallmarked with Callot’s interest in panaoramically long formats and executed with his famous etching needle that he developed called the “échoppe” allowing him to make swelling lines, for AU$310 (currently US$223.20/EUR196.08/GBP176.92 at the time of posting this print) 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 strong impression of a very rare print, 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