Antonius
Wierix II (1555/59–1604)
“Samson
Carries the Gates of Gaza”
(aka “Simson draagt de poorten van Gaza”; “Samson enlève les portes de Gaza”), c1585,
Plate 5 from the series of seven engravings, “The Story
of Samson”, after the design by Jan Snellinck I
(aka Jan Snellincx; Jan Snellinx) (c1544/9–1638), previously attirbuted to Maarten
de Vos (aka Marten de Vos; Maerten de Vos) (1532–1603), published in “Thesaurus
sacrarum historiarum veteris testamenti, elegantissimis imaginabus expressum
excellentissimorum in hac arte virorum opera: nunc primum in lucem editus”
([Google Transl.] Treasure sacred stories of the Old Testament elegant
imaginabor expressed in this excellent works of art, now for the first time to
light) in Antwerp in 1585 by Gerard de Jode (aka Geeraert de Jode;
Geerart de Jode; Gerardo de Jode; Gheerde de Jode; Gheraerde de Jode; Girard de
Jode; Gerard de Jode (1516/17–1591).
Engraving on
laid paper (with watermark), trimmed with a narrow margin around the platemark.
Size: (sheet)
21.6 x 29.8 cm; (plate) 21.2 x 29.5 cm; (image borderline) 20.3 x 29.3 cm.
Lettered in
plate below the image bordedline: (centre) “Mœnibus inclusus portas cum
vectibus ausert vicinoque Locat vertice montis eas Judicum.16.3.”; (right) “5”.
State iii (of
iii) with the addition of the verse number, “3.”
Mauquoy-Hendrickx
28.III (Marie
Mauquoy-Hendrickx 1978, “Les Estampes Des Wierix”, vol. 1, [text] p. 4, [ill.]
p. 2); New Hollstein Dutch 36 (Zsuzsanna van Ruyven-Zeman [comp.] 2003, “Dutch
and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts ca. 1450–1700: The Wierix family:
part I”, vol. 59, Rotterdam, Sound and Vision Rijksprentenkabinet, p. 33, cat.
no. 36).
The Rijksmuseum
offers the following description of this print:
“[Transl.] “Samson
carries the gates of the city of Gaza on his shoulders. In the background the
city of Gaza. Below the performance a reference in Latin to the Bible text in
Ri. 16.” (http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.331304).
See also the
description offered by the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1968-1018-1-104.
For those who
may be unfamiliar with the portrayed episode from “The Story of Samson”, the
following verses from The Book of Judges: 16 (CEV) will be helpful:
“One day while
Samson was in Gaza, he saw a prostitute and went to her house to spend the
night. The people who lived in Gaza found out he was there, and they decided to
kill him at sunrise. So they went to the city gate and waited all night in the
guardrooms on each side of the gate. But Samson got up in the middle of the
night and went to the town gate. He pulled the gate doors and doorposts out of
the wall and put them on his shoulders. Then he carried them all the way to the
top of the hill that overlooks Hebron, where he set the doors down, still
closed and locked” (Bible Gatway [1995] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%2016&version=CEV).
Condition: a
well-printed impression with narrow margins in excellent condition with no
tears, holes, folds, losses, stains or foxing.
I am selling
this curiously interesting engraving showing not only Samson carrying two heavy
gates up to Mount Hebron—note that he is portrayed in this undertaking in the
foreground and again in the middle distance—but also revealing how Flemish
artists of the time envisaged the landscape around Gaza—note, for example, the stepped
gable facades on some of the houses—for AU$355 (currently US$269.70/EUR225.77/GBP194.05
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 wonderful engraving with a wealth of details to
examine, 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
